Resident Tomb Raider
by GameShippingGirl19
Summary: What if, after rescuing Ashley, Leon was immediately thrown into another assignment? What if he becomes part of the search for Yamatai? What does Lara think of this quiet but strangely charming agent? Find out here! ON INDEFINITE HIATUS!
1. Prologue: Adventure Is Out There!

**AN: Hello, everyone! I'm a new author to FanFiction and I haven't written in a while so forgive me if I appear a bit rusty. This is my first swing at a uploaded fanfic so please be nice about criticism.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing! This for pure entertainment purposes!**

 **Enjoy the story!**

Prologue: Adventure Is Out There!

When Hunnigan had contacted him and said that he had a new assignment involving an expedition, this was NOT what Leon had in mind.

But now, here he was, on a ship known as the _Endurance_ with a group of aspiring explorers on an expedition to the Dragon's Triangle just off of Japan to discover the lost island of Yamatai and all its secrets. At least, that's what the group was hoping for, especially a young new archeologist named Lara Croft.

Lara. Boy, was that young lady something to him. Determined, passionate about her work, and stubborn as all hell. She had not been too thrilled upon discovering a Government Agent, who, in her personal opinion, had no business accompanying their expedition, was tagging along anyway.

' _Well, it's not like I signed up for this,_ ' Leon thought to himself bitterly. ' _Seriously, what was Hunnigan thinking? What business do I have being on this search?_ '

Leon was grateful that he had at least done his homework on all the individuals attending the expedition before being thrown in himself.

Lara Croft - The 21-year-old daughter and only child of Richard and Amelia Croft. Orphaned at a very young age when her parents died on an archeological trip when she was six, leaving her with a huge life insurance policy, but without the parental love she needed. Decided that she wanted to earn her own way and would apply to the University College London (UCL). Shortly after starting University at UCL, Lara met Samantha Nishimura. It was because of Sam's free spirit and wild streak that Lara was able to experience much more of London than just the universities and museums that she loved so much.

Sam Nishimura - 22 years old. Documentary Producer/Translator of the Endurance's expedition, being in charge of filming all the material and the video editing. Sam had mixed heritage, being Japanese on her father's side, and Portuguese on her mother's side, though she holds an American citizenship. Thanks to her rich parents, who regularly give her money, Sam had quite the expensive lifestyle, obsessing over designer clothes and far-away trips.

Alex Weiss - 24 years old. American technician of the Endurance. He was apparently also a very skilled hacker and electronics geek.

Conrad Roth - 52 years old. Lara's mentor/second father figure and Captain of the Endurance, as well as a freelance salvage and treasure hunter. He was ex-military with interests that included rock climbing, hiking and wreck diving.

Joslin Reyes - 42-year-old American mechanic of the Endurance. Before she became a mechanic, she was once a police officer for the NYPD, but enjoyed tinkering with the engines. Apparently, she had a young teen daughter waiting for her back home.

Jonah Maiava - 33 years old. American, but New Zealand born, cook and general ships dogsbody of the Endurance. His interests include fishing, the outside, and inventing new recipes.

Angus "Grim" Grimaldi - helmsman of the Endurance. There was nothing about sailing and water that Grim did not know, and he had sailed all the oceans of the world, which included stints working for the Merchant Navy where he met Roth.

Last, and in Leon's opinion, certainly least, Dr. James Whitman - American archeologist, sporting a television show and a failing marriage, he joined the Endurance crew as senior archeologist to "hit it big". There was something about him, though, that made Leon very wary of him. And his intern, Steph, had been caught more than once checking him out, and to Leon, not in a pleasant way.

A sharp ringing from his belt pulled Leon from his thoughts as he reached for his phone.

' _Most likely Hunnigan,_ ' he thought briefly before accepting the call.

"Kennedy," he said shortly.

" _Leon,_ " the voice of Ingrid Hunnigan echoed in his ear.

' _10 points for being right._ ' he thought before refocusing on Hunnigan.

" _I wasn't able to pass along the message before you left for the expedition task, but the President sends his utmost gratitude for the rescue and return of his daughter."_

"I was given a mission and I accomplished it. It's what I do. Hunnigan, why do I need to be a part of this search? I fail to see how a Government Agent can assist with a archeology expedition."

" _I don't exactly know, either, Leon. But could you just grin and bear it and try to get along with them? There's obviously a reason why you're there. We just don't know that reason yet._ "

"No promises, but we'll see."

With that, they ended the call and Leon wandered over to a table where Sam was filming Jonah teaching Dr. _Twitman_ how to cut a fish. The man ended up cutting himself and stormed around the corner to fume with Sam following him to cool him down.

' _Jesus, what a stuck-up PRICK,_ ' Leon thought to himself. Then, feeling a little sorry for Jonah, he walked over and picked up the fish Whitman had been holding, took the knife beside it, and turned to Jonah.

"So, is it like this?" he asked while perfectly executing the cut Jonah had been trying to demonstrate.

"Yes. That's exactly how it's done," Jonah praised.

"I'm sorry for you. That doctor's a moron when it comes to anything besides archeology. He wouldn't last 5 minutes in the wild."

Jonah chuckled and nodded. "But Little Bird looks up to him. So we must tolerate him for her."

Leon grimaced. "I'm glad the rest of you are so close to her upon meeting her. I seem to be the only one she doesn't seem to care for."

"Maybe she just needs more time to warm up to you. Honestly? I think it's interesting. A Government Agent on an archeology expedition? What could be the reason?"

"You and me both. I just got back from Spain on a mission to rescue the President's kidnapped daughter and next thing I know, I'm on a ship for a search for some mysterious island. Not what I had in mind for a break."

"Try not to let it bother you too much, Agent. Now, go on and visit with the others. We'll all gather in a few hours for dinner. I'm serving up my famous fish stew!"

Leon smiled and did as Jonah suggested. Jonah seemed nice enough. He should meet with the others and further profile them.

Later, everyone gathered in the mess hall for dinner. The stew was good, Leon had to give Jonah props, and everyone but him poured over the little information they had regarding this mysterious "Yamatai". Lara had gotten a hunch and said they weren't on the right heading and should change course, while Whitman argued it wasn't safe and they should stay as they were.

"What do you think, Mr. Agent," Roth suddenly asked him, surprising him a bit, but he meandered over to the table anyway.

"He doesn't know a thing about archeology! He shouldn't even be here! What would he know about any of this!" Whitman objected, but was silenced as Leon pinned him with a fierce glare.

"Maybe I don't know much about this, but I'm pretty good at finding my way around and I've taken the liberty to read up some on the legend. We're currently approximately here, correct?" he asked, indicating a portion of the map with his finger.

Roth nodded in confirmation. Leon turned back to the map.

"Well, judging by what information we currently have, Yamatai should be somewhere in the heart of the Dragon's Triangle, so actually, Lara may have a point. I'm with Lara on this one. We need to turn and head toward the heart."

Whtiman walked away with a huff, while Roth nodded, taking Leon's evaluation into consideration.

"Well, what else do we have to go on? Not much, right? Let's get this ship turned in the right direction."

An hour later, with the ship on a new heading, Leon stood on the main deck, leaning on the rail and watching the sun sink down over the horizon. He could hear the soft murmurings of two people talking somewhere behind him. They sounded like Lara and Roth. Leon paid them no mind, thinking that whatever they were discussing was their business.

The murmuring stopped, and then he heard distinct footsteps aproaching him. He didn't turn around until a soft voice spoke up behind him.

"Why did you help me earlier?"

That was when Leon turned, and found Lara Croft standing a few feet away.

"I haven't exactly given you the warmest welcome. Why be so courteous when I wasn't at all friendly?" she added.

"I don't hold first impressions against people. I've had varying opinions towards me upon a first meeting. Some flattering, others not so much. I'm sure it was a bit ludicrous to you when you found out. It was to me. A Government Agent asked to attend an archeology expedition? What were my higher ups thinking? To be honest, I still don't know. But we'll most likely be facing rugged terrain and feral wild animals. I may not know much about archeology, but I've got several degrees of training and survival tactics under my belt. The least I could do is keep you all alive. Of course, we need to get there first. And if your hunch does that, I'll put all my cards on the table, too."

He turned to her, ready to say something else, but hesitated. After an internal debate, he spoke again.

"There's more to people than meets the eye, Lara. I've seen things, experienced things that should never have occurred. I've saved people, and I've been forced to watch people die. I've even had to be the one that put them out of their misery. But when you come out of that still breathing, it makes you strong. It makes you a survivor. I'm not the only one either, but I pray that no more people will live the way I do. While it makes you stronger, it also leaves scars. Physically, mentally, emotionally, even socially. I have my own feeling about all this. A feeling that something is going to go wrong somehow. Everyone better hope like hell I'm not right."

By the time the sun had set and Leon decided to go down to his cabin and retire for the night. Lara watched him go, thinking silently about everything he'd said.

' _Please,_ ' she prayed to herself. ' _Don't let anything happen to us._ '

 **AN: And that's a wrap! There's the opening to my newest story. Criticize me if you must, but please, no flames! Thanks for reading! Leave a review if I should continue.**


	2. Shipwrecked! The Nightmare Begins

Chapter 1: Shipwrecked! The Nightmare Begins

That night, things became just like Leon feared. After only a few hours of sleep, Leon was jolted awake by ship rocking violently. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know there was a bad storm raging.

The lights above him flickered, threatening to go out and leave him in total darkness. His instincts were screaming "danger" as Leon scrambled to his feet. As soon as he was upright, however, another violent tremble had ship tilting dangerously to one side, throwing the startled agent into the wall hard.

His head swam briefly from the force of the impact before he staggered back to his feet. Shuffling out of his cabin, he quickly realized the situation was worse than he first suspected. The Endurance was already sinking! Breaking in half like the Titanic and taking on water quickly. He could see that the lower levels were already mostly flooded.

 _'Shit. Time to pack up and go,'_ he thought as he went back into his cabin, packed up what few things he'd brought with him, and started running.

He hadn't gotten far when he heard muffled groaning, a sound associated with someone being underwater. Glancing toward the sound, he saw Lara trapped under a lid leading down to the lower levels. The water was already almost completely over her head and she was under the threat of drowning, her hands scrambling to open the lid.

Thinking fast, Leon grabbed a long metal rod and pried the lid open enough he could reach in and pull it off with his hands. Once the cover was off, he reached in and pulled Lara from the swirling water.

"You okay?!" he asked over the roaring of the storm as she coughed out the seawater she'd swallowed. She managed to nod after dispelling the water and he hauled her to her feet.

"No time to rest, Lara! We gotta move!"

They both jumped and dodged debris as they made their to the split. On the other side was Roth with his hand out, yelling for them.

"You go first, Lara! When he gets you pulled up, I'll follow!" Leon yelled to her. She nodded, stepped back to get a running start, and jumped the huge gap with Roth barely managing to catch her and struggling to pull her up.

 _'She's not gonna make it,'_ Leon thought grimly. Sure enough, the second Roth lost his hold and Lara plummeted to the water below, Leon was in after her.

Swimming against the violently swirling currents, he managed to locate her and pull them both to the surface. His eyes darted around, looking for a place to swim to. And then, he saw it.

"Land! Hold onto me, Lara!"

Fighting through the waves, he pulled them ashore. Leon worked to get his bearings back while Lara frantically tried contacting their comrades through the radio. Getting to his feet, Leon followed after her.

A few feet ahead, she stopped, apparently having spotted something. A split second later, a large man came up behind her and hit her with the butt of the rifle he held. She was unconscious before she even hit the ground.

"Lara!" Before he could do anything, another man hit him with his gun, saying something in Russian.

The last thing he heard before falling unconscious was the terrified cries of their comrades and the men who captured them laughing.

 **AN: First story chapter up! Saw someone following my story (YAY!) so I posted a new chapter to celebrate! Hope you guys enjoyed!**


	3. Where Are We?

Chapter 2: Where Are We?

The first thing that registered in Leon's mind as he slowly regained consciousness was that he was bound. Just his hands and feet, it seemed, but he had a sinking suspicion that whoever those men were had stripped him of his weapons.

The next thought that registered was how heavy his head felt. Of course it would feel heavy, that's where he'd been hit. Then, as he managed to peel his heavy eyelids open, he next realized he was hung upside down like a pig in a slaughterhouse.

 _'Great. That's just fantastic,'_ he thought sarcastically. Then, his thoughts turned serious. _'I gotta get loose and get outta here. Hopefully I'll track down the others, too. If they're alive...'_

He tried wriggling his hands around to get the rope loose. No use. The rope bound his hands snug and tight. Cursing softly, he looked around. There were candles everywhere in one spot surrounding a faded portrait.

 _'Looks like a shrine of some sort,'_ he noted.

A crashing sound from nearby snapped his attention towards the entryway.

 _'Shit. If they're coming back, I gotta get outta here now!'_

Looking up toward the ceiling to his bound feet, he started thinking. He heard footsteps and tensed for a moment. There was no way he'd get loose quick enough and be ready to make a run for it. The footsteps were too close by. He relaxed, however, upon hearing a familiar voice call out softly.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Lara? Is that you?" he called back, not loud so as to alert any possible guards but enough for her to hear him. Sure enough, a moment later, Lara Croft rounded the corner.

"Leon! Are you alright? she asked, sprinting over to where he was hung up.

"Could be better, could be worse. Think you can help get me down?"

She nodded. "I'll untie the end holding you to the beam first. Then, we'll get you completely untied once you're on the ground. Brace yourself for the fall and impact."

He nodded and watched the best he could as she climbed the nearby wall ledges up to the beam, shimmied her way carefully toward the rope, and began working at the knot. As he felt the rope becoming looser, he started swinging a bit to brace himself. When the rope came free, he quickly curled up in a defensive fetal position in mid air and landed without major damage done.

He heard Lara jump down and speed walk over to him.

"That's one way to get down quickly," Leon joked as she worked to untie his hands. Once his hands were free, he helped her untangle and untie his feet.

"Good thing I swapped my normal tennis shoes for combat boots before I took this task on. Something tells me we'll be doing a lot of hiking and climbing," he added a little more seriously. Completely free, he stood up. They should probably get moving while the coast was clear.

Along the way during their escape, they dealt with a deranged man claiming he could help them, partial cave-ins, pits, slides, tight spaces, many things Leon didn't care to remember.

 _'If I never have to experience this bullshit again, it'll be too soon.'_ Wherever they were, they hadn't been there a full day and Leon already wasn't having any of it. This place just screamed "dangerous". Every possible corner of it.

Avoiding being crushed by another cave-in, they finally made it outside. For a moment, they lay on the ground, coughing and catching their breath. Then they slowly got to their feet and looked around. They stood on a cliff side, and had it been normal circumstances, the barely risen sun cast a pretty glow through the haze of a past storm.

But they didn't have time or luxury to enjoy it. There were people to find, and hopefully alive. But the question still burned in their minds as they made their way around the cliff side.

 _Where are we?_

 **AN: New story chapter up! I got 2 reviews! Thank you to** **Iris-Stephenie for the feedback. As always, leave a review and tell me what you guys think so far! Until next time. Ciao!**


	4. Explore and Survive

Chaper 3: Explore and Survive

Rounding the first corner, Lara paused to lean against a tree. Leon stopped as well to wait for her. While she got her bearings, they looked out over the cliffside again. There were wreckages everywhere. Planes and boats alike. Lara gasped, apparently having spotted something important. Following her gaze, Leon spotted it as well down on the shore.

"A lifeboat! But where are they?" Lara panted.

"They must've gone inland," Leon replied. "We should keep moving if we're gonna find them." Lara nodded and they set off again.

Their first obstacle came in the form of a thin, frail-looking fallen tree. They'd have to use it as a makeshift bridge to cross over. Lara approached it first with Leon right behind her.

"Okay, take it slow," she murmured. She started out, wobbling precariously as she struggled to keep her balance. Leon waited til she was halfway across, where she slipped and nearly tumbled from the tree, before slowly but quickly following after. He pulled her up and they quickly got across while the tree creaked warningly under their weight.

"Never thought I'd get practice to be a trapeze walker in a circus," Leon joked before resuming their trek into unknown territory.

After clearing a small gap in front of a waterfall, they came upon an old German fighter plane wreckage stuck in some branches.

"Huh?" Lara puzzled.

"What the hell? This place is like a huge obstacle course!" Leon groaned.

"Okay, we can do this," Lara told him as she approached the wreck.

"This thing looks awfully flimsy. We should scale it one on top of the other. If it should fall apart, the last thing we need is to be separated in an unknown place," Leon warned her as he followed her over. She nodded and grabbed hold of a makeshift ladder rung, nearly losing her hold off the bat.

Leon quickly followed and they wasted little to no time getting across, the wing nearly falling on top of them when they got on solid ground.

"Sometimes, I really hate it when I'm right. And I'm right WAY too often," Leon panted.

The path around became narrow as they inched along the cliffside. Getting around without much difficulty, they kicked themselves up a high wall, and in the little clearing below, Lara spotted another familiar object.

"Sam's pack!"

They jumped down, landing a bit roughly, and sprinted over it. Leon kneeled next to it while Lara cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Sam!" she called.

"They must've come this way," Leon stated, standing with Sam's pack in his hands. "We gotta be on the right track if we found her stuff."

Lara walked over to him as he took some items from the pack. He handed Sam's camera to Lara, put a box of matches in his pocket for safe keeping, and the last useful thing he found was a two way radio, which emitted a lot of static and background noise when Leon switched it on.

"Sam?! Roth!" Lara cried into the device.

"Can anyone hear us?" Leon tried. No response and Leon lowered the radio.

"Must not be any signal."

Lara sighed and looked into the path in front of them.

"We've got to find them."

"We will," Leon assured her.

Lara jumped and grabbed the ledge she'd been looking up at. However, she lost her hold and slid down the embankment below with a surprised cry.

"Lara!" Leon yelled, equally as surprised as she must've been. He quickly followed after her. Finding her near the bottom not seriously hurt, he sighed softly in relief. He then looked up toward the sky.

"Let's get out of this storm. We're soaked as it is," he suggested.

She nodded and they wandered around the nearby narrow path. They stumbled upon a cave structure that was perfect shelter. There was even a fire pit.

"Looks abandoned," Lara commented, rubbing her arms for warmth.

"Wish I had my jacket to give you, but those men must've took it along with my gun and wallet," Leon grouched. "Glad I only carried copies of my ID and permits in that one."

Lara got herself a drink from the rainwater drizzling over one part of the cave side then tried the radio again.

"Is anyone listening? Please respond."

Still nothing came through, only static and the no signal sound. Leon got to work gathering materials for a fire. They were soaked from the rain and needed to get warm. Piling up dry wood and dead grass, he reached for the matches.

"One left. Boy, aren't we lucky."

He struck the match and quickly dropped it into the waiting pile. The fire took off rather quickly, and he and Lara sat down close to the heat. They sat in silence watching the flames dance around. A signal on the radio briefly came through, but went as quick as it'd come. Lara reached for Sam's camera and flipped it on. Leon leaned over to watch over her shoulder.

 _"And here we have the soon-to-be famous archaeologist, Lara Croft, in her native habitat."_

 _The camera panned up to a mirror where Sam could be seen as she continued speaking._

 _"She's on the hunt for the lost kingdom of Yamatai, home of the fabulous Himiko, mythical Sun Queen and ancestor of yours truly."_

 _The camera panned back down to Lara._

 _"Sam, this is serious."_

 _"Oh, sweetie, I know. I'm just trying to lighten the mood here. Everyone's so on edge! What are you so worried about?"_

 _"I'm close to something. I know it. I'm not sure if the others will listen. Or even if they should..."_

 _"Lara, you know this stuff better than anyone! Seriously! I'm not just saying this to make you feel better. I trust you...Roth trusts you. You got this! Now let's take a break, okay?"_

 _"Okay, okay! And Sam...thanks."_

 _The camera was then turned toward Sam._

 _"She's not always this serious, you know?"_

 _The scene cut to the mess hall where everyone was making small talk. That was the day Lara argued with Twitman about their heading._

They watched the argument again, hearing everyone's two-bits before the recording cut off. They didn't move or say anything.

The storm lasted well into the night. The next morning, they exited the shelter.

"We can't just sit here. We've got to find something to eat," Lara stated as her stomach rumbled.

"I smell a hunting lesson," Leon quipped, his stomach rumbling as well.

Following the path down into a slightly open forest, they spotted a deer running away from them.

"There's our meal. Question is, how do we get it? We still don't have weapons," Leon pointed out.

"Oh, God," Lara suddenly gasped, looking up. Following her gaze, he spotted a corpse tied up in the tree with a bow across his back.

"Ugh. That's disgusting," he groaned.

"What's happening here?" Lara asked quietly. "Wait, we could use that bow."

A quick climb and a rough fall later, Lara had pulled the entire corpse down. Grabbing the makeshift longbow, she gave the string an experimental tug. Still sounded brand new, in Leon's opinion. While she fetched the bow, he managed to located a hunting knife left in a tree, the sheath on the ground under it. The knife now hung on his belt.

"Okay, let's see if this thing still works," she said, grabbing a nearby quiver of arrows.

"Just remember Roth's training," she said to herself, though Leon still heard her, Roth's lessons running through her head.

"You can have the best form and technique in the world, but it won't mean a thing if you can't focus. The key to using any weapon is focus."

"Sounds like a wise man, Conrad Roth," Leon mumbled beside her. She must've been repeating it out loud without knowing.

Quickly, they found the deer, and it went down with one well-planted arrow. They approached it carefully.

"Sorry, fella," Leon spoke lowly to the dying animal before taking the knife and stabbing into it, killing it completely. Cutting it open, he took a couple handfuls of meat before standing.

"Let's go back and get this cooking."

Lara nodded and they trekked back to their camp.

Later, after they'd eaten their fill and threw out the rest for animals or another survivor to find, they were surprised to hear Roth's voice come through the radio.

 _"This is Conrad Roth, captain of the Endurance. We are stranded on an island inside the Dragon's Triangle."_

Lara grabbed the radio and cut him off before he could say anymore.

"Roth!"

 _"Lara!"_

"You're alive!"

 _"Easy, easy. Are you okay? What happened?"_

"I remember the beach...then it went black and I woke up in a cave... There was this crazy man, Roth...and a dead body."

Leon gently took the radio from her. "Roth, it's Leon Kennedy. Are you hurt?"

 _"Not important. Listen, both of you. Where are you now? Are you both safe?"_

"It was so horrible. It's all my fault, this is all my fault-" Roth cut Lara off.

 _"Lara! Listen to me. I sent an SOS from the Endurance before I abandoned her. Hopefully someone caught it. I've spoken to the others. We're regrouping at my location."_

"Please come and get us..." Lara begged.

 _"I have to stay here. You can do this, Lara. Remember when we climbed Snowden? You said the key was knowing all you've got to do is just keep moving."_

"Keep moving," Lara said it with him before he continued.

 _"Remember everything I've taught you, Lara. You're ready for this. And keep your radio on."_

"Okay," Lara breathed, and then Roth's voice faded from the radio.

Leon came over to her. "He's right, you know. He's taught you well and I know you're ready for this. We'll make it through."

With that, they packed up camp and started out into the forest.

"We better find a way outta here," Leon stated.

They hadn't gotten very far in when Lara heard...

"Music?"

"Must be someone near here," Leon said as they followed the music to a shack.

"Hello?" Lara called out softly.

"Is someone there?!" Leon tried a bit louder. There was no answer as they entered the little shack. They noticed a torch next to what appeared to be an underground tunnel.

"This could be a way through," Lara said as Leon grabbed the torch.

A large gust of wind swept through at that moment and blew the heavy door shut.

"Damn it! Guess there's no other option now," Leon grumbled.

They started down the ladder, Leon first since he had the torch and Lara following. At the bottom, they noticed markings all over the walls.

"What are these?" Lara wondered.

"Who knows? But we don't have time," Leon replied, heading straight for the opening in front of them.

Wading through waist-high water and ducking under a beam, they stumbled upon an underground room where Lara found a Hannya Mask. They also found a pry axe for the rusted door blocking their potential way out.

After breaking down the door, they found another ladder that lead them out of the underground into a tunnel.

"Wonder where that brought us now," Leon muttered.

Walking outside, they heard voices.

"Hold on, let me find out."

"Sam?" Lara questioned softly as she and Leon approached the voices.

"We're on the southwest side. They'll need to follow the path. It's a bit of a climb," came an unknown male voice.

"Did you get that?" Sam asked.

Then, the voice of Reyes spoke through a radio. "Got it."

"We have a fire. Look for the smoke," Sam replied.

"We're on our way," Reyes's voice replied before the radio cut out.

As she and Leon rounded into the camp, they spotted Sam with a male neither of them remembered seeing.

"Lara! Leon! You guys made it!" Sam said, noticing them first.

"Sam, thank goodness..." Lara trailed off seeing the unknown man.

"Um, surprise," Sam said uncertainly as the man got to his feet. "It's okay, he's one of us."

Leon wasn't so sure of that as the man started to speak.

"Sorry if I startled you. This place would make anyone a little jumpy."

'Ain't that the truth,' Leon thought to himself as the man continued.

"We just spoke to your crew. They're on their way."

"Look. He bandaged my foot," Sam stated, motioning to her injured foot.

"It was the least I could do," the man replied, waving it off. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "My manners, I'm sorry. I'm Mathias." He offered them his hand. "A teacher by trade."

Leon made no move to accept the offered handshake, but Lara did, albeit a tad reluctantly.

"Not cut out for island life, I'm afraid," Mathias added.

"Sweetie, you look exhausted. Sit down," Sam pointed out, motioning her to sit.

"Yeah," Lara replied, sitting on one side of the fire. Leon leaned against a large rock nearby.

"Sam here was just telling me about the Sun Queen," Mathias spoke up.

"Right. Himiko!" Sam replied enthusiastically.

"Can you tell me more? I'm intrigued."

As Sam told the story of Himiko, Leon noticed Lara dozing in and out of sleep, and the next thing he knew, he'd dozed off himself.

A large crack of thunder jarred both of them awake.

"Sam? Mathias?" Lara called. Indeed, Sam and Mathias were now missing.

"Shit! How could this have happened? We were right here with them!" Leon cursed.

They sprinted down a small flight of steps just next to the camp. Upon reaching the bottom, Leon was caught by surprise hearing Lara cry out in pain. Whirling toward her, he saw her leg caught in a bear trap. To make matters worse, they heard the howling of wolves coming their way.

"Oh, shit!" Leon cursed.

"Take the bow!" Lara commanded, holding the weapon out to him. With no other choices, he took it.

With a surprising accuracy, he shot down every wolf that tried to attack them. Finally, the other crew members came to their assistance.

"Over here!" Looking up, they saw Reyes in the pathway.

"Reyes!"

"I found Lara and the agent." Jonah, Alex, Grim, and Dr. Whitman came stumbling in behind her.

Reyes walked over to Lara's other side.

"Let go," she said and shot the trap, making it go slack a bit around Lara's leg.

Jonah then pried it open the rest of the way so Lara could pull her foot free.

"It's good to see you, Little Bird," Jonah said as Leon hauled Lara to her feet.

"I'm so glad you're here. Is Sam with you?" she asked.

"She was with you," Jonah replied, confused.

"She was here, with that man, Mathias," Leon told him, Lara using him as support. "But we both passed out. When we woke up, they were both gone."

"You girls shouldn't go wandering off!" Grim told Lara.

"We need to find them," Lara said.

"Uh, w-wait. What about Roth?" Dr. Whitman asked.

"Okay, let's split up," Reyes spoke up. "One of us go with Lara and Leon and meet up with Roth, the rest of us fan out and look for Sam."

"I'll go with them," Alex offered.

"No, no...let, let me," Dr. Whitman stepped in.

"You know how to use one of these?" Reyes asked, offering him her gun.

"It's...it's been a while. It-it's all coming back to me," he stuttered.

"Oh, for God's sake. I know how to use it. Let me," Leon stepped toward Reyes, holding his hand out to take the gun. Reyes handed it over.

"Get to Roth. We'll find Sam and this Mathias guy," Alex said as they turned to leave.

Lara turned and stumbled with a pained groan as she leaned on her bow for support.

"You going to be okay?" Dr. Whitman asked her.

"Yes. I probably just need to rest for a few minutes," Lara answered.

Leon slung her arm around his shoulders as he helped her back up to the camp. As he sat and got her sat down as well, Whitman came up to them.

"You two sit, uh...you sit here. I'll, uh..." he cleared his throat before finishing. "I'll check up ahead."

"Okay," Lara called after him. Leon remained silent, not even acknowledging him.

As Lara attempted to write a first journal entry, Leon started playing things out in his head.

 _'How are we gonna get outta here?'_

 **AN: New story chapter up! I gotta say, if I'm gonna give you guys longer chapters, they'll be spaced out a bit more than everyday cause this took me most of the evening! So hope this will do for you for the next day or two cause this was difficult to get wrote out! Enjoy!**


	5. Survivors Born

Chapter 4: Survivors Born

Once Lara was rested, they set off to join Whitman. Although, crossing a bridge, they discovered more of the wolves that inhabited the area. Lara used her bow to shoot them down, Leon finished them with his knife.

"He could've at least warned us about the wolves," Leon grumbled.

"It's all clear, you two. Come on up!" Whitman called from up ahead.

"Yeah, it is now," Leon snarked as they pressed onward toward Whitman.

"Fascinating...two distinctive styles," Whitman was murmuring when they approached. It was then they took notice of the markings on the structure in front of them, much like the ones they'd seen in the underground tunnel.

"These are fascinating," Whitman said as they stopped at the top of the steps.

 _'Yes, we heard you the first time,'_ Leon thought bitterly as they studied the markings.

"I've seen these before," Lara spoke up. She also remembered the tunnel. "They must be ritualistic."

"This female image is particularly interesting," Whitman continued, pointing out said image. Lara put her hand up to it. When she pulled away, her and Leon saw faint traces of the paint.

"Still fresh," Leon remarked. "These were made recently."

"By those islanders, no doubt," Whitman added. "Judging by the wrecks out there, they were once like us...survivors...Remarkable!"

"Yes, well, let's hope we don't become murderers, too," Lara replied.

"Mr. Kennedy, see if you can work the other one," Whitman basically ordered, pointing to a wheel similar to the one the doctor was currently positioned at.

Leon glared before taking his position at the other wheel. Then, he noticed something required.

"Doc, the handle's missing on this one."

"Here, Leon. Try the axe," Lara said, offering him the pry axe. Sticking the handle in place, Leon gave it an experimental push. He felt the handle crack in his hand.

"It won't take the force. We'll need something sturdier."

"Must be something around here we can use," Whitman remarked before turning back to the markings.

"I know. Maybe there's some stuff in the salvage boxes laying around to make it stronger," Lara suggested.

Leon nodded. "Sounds like our best bet. Let's find some salvage."

After finding what they needed and upgrading the axe, they went back to Whitman.

"Alright, Mr. Kennedy? Shall we give it a go then?"

"Let's get this over with," Leon growled.

"Whenever you're ready."

They resumed their positions and opened the gate. The gate only remained up for a moment before it began closing. They quickly ducked inside.

"That female figure on the gate," Whitman began as they started walking. "Given the age of the symbols, it could be the Sun Queen."

"Himiko?" Leon questioned.

"Are you sure you're not channeling Sam, Dr. Whitman?" Lara added.

"Well, there's no doubt, Himiko had power. Some say shamanistic. Elemental!"

"A woman wields that much power and sooner or later it gets called witchcraft!" Lara sighed. Leon silently agreed.

"We shouldn't discount anything, even what may seem to us, irrational. We still have much to learn about the world."

"You sound like my father."

"It could be one hell of a story, Lara."

"Not if we don't live to tell it."

 _'I'll take this kinda thing over the viruses anyday,'_ Leon thought to himself.

"Did you say something, Leon?" Lara glanced at him curiously.

 _'Shit. Did I say some of that out loud?'_

"Uh, nothing you guys need to worry about," he replied.

They happened upon another shrine in that moment. This one depicted the statue of a seemingly important woman.

"Incredible! It is Himiko!" Whitman breathed, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"But look, the bowl, the candles," Lara said softly.

"Why is she still being worshipped?" Leon finished.

"This island, it must've once been part of Yamatai! You were right, Lara!"

"The lost kingdom!" Lara gasped.

"We found it after all," Leon remarked, looking around.

 _'Not what I had in mind for a lost kingdom.'_

"It's like finding Atlantis!"

"But this is real, Dr. Whitman. We're not standing on a myth," Lara objected.

"No, we're standing on a gold mine!" Whitman exclaimed.

Too late did Leon notice the movement in the trees behind them.

"Come, quickly, your friends are hurt," the man said with a thick accent that sounded Russian.

"Yes, probably by them!" Lara ground out quietly.

"Get back!" Leon ordered them, drawing the gun.

"They can't be trusted!" Lara whispered to Whitman.

Leon glanced around. There was another man with a vantage point on them not far away.

"We still have a gun," Leon said softly to them over his shoulder.

"We don't want any trouble," Whitman spoke up.

"No!" Lara said to him.

"Whitman, shut up!" Leon snapped.

"We'll come," he continued.

"Noooo!" Lara moaned.

"Whitman!" Leon hissed.

"But I insist that afterwards, you take us to whoever's in charge!"

"Whitman, you idiot!" Leon growled.

"What are you doing?!" Lara cried.

"Be quiet!" He snatched the gun from Leon.

"No!" Lara and Leon exclaimed in unison.

"I'm handling this!" he told them, putting the gun on the ground.

"No, you're making it worse!" Leon snarled.

Lara drew her bow, but was tackled from behind by another one of their men. Two more jumped Leon and subdued him quickly as he struggled in vain to get free. He and Lara were both bound in seconds.

"No...please!" Whitman pleaded, horrified by the turn of events.

"Get off!" Lara yelled.

"Whitman, I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Leon ground out.

"Just...just go along with them, both of you. Do...do whatever they say."

Leon growled and Lara panted as their captors spoke in Russian. Then, they were escorted away.

"Who are you people?" Lara asked them.

"What do you want with us?" Leon added.

"Silence!" the man holding onto Lara growled.

"Lara! Leon!" one of the Endurance crewmen yelled, starting to stand.

The man kicked him back down. "If they give you any trouble, kill them!"

"Don't hurt them, please!" Lara's voice cracked.

He pushed Lara into a tree. "I said, silence, girl!" He began speaking in Russian again as he caressed her face and shoulder.

"Let go of her! Let go of her!" Leon yelled. "Lara, run! All of you, run!"

And they did. One was gunned down while the others escaped.

"Oh no! No!" Lara panted.

"Round them up! Round them up!" their captor yelled. He then wheeled around and backhanded Lara while his friends threw Leon face down into the ground.

"Don't you fucking move! Either of you!" he spat as he walked away. "Kill them all!"

Leon and Lara struggled to their feet. They quickly ducked behind a wall.

"Don't make a sound," Lara said softly. Leon nodded. He didn't need to be told. He already knew.

They ducked and weaved behind the walls and what other covers they found, avoiding the men and searchlights. Soon enough, the men noticed they were missing.

"Duck inside there!" Leon whispered, nodding to a small space. Presumably, the structure was what was left of a hut.

They quickly ran to it and squeezed inside, careful not to move or make too much noise. At first, no one spotted them. Then...

"Out!" the man barked, Leon's gun pointed at them. They eased out of hiding and the man grabbed Lara.

"I always find them," he practically purred.

He caressed Lara's side, making Leon's blood boil. Lara kneed him in the groin and went to run, but the man seized her arm and pulled her back. After a quick struggle, Lara knocked a pistol out of his hands and her hands came free. Leon charged in and intercepted the man so Lara could get the gun. His hands came unbound as well and he and the Russian struggled in the dirt. The Russian man had Leon pinned when Lara came back with the gun.

As she attempted to help Leon by pulling the man up to push him off, the gun in her hand discharged, spraying the both of them with his blood and he rolled away from them. He gasped and choked for a moment before he breathed his last breath.

Lara collapsed nearby, coughing and sobbing hysterically. She just killed a man. A human being. Dead at her hand, just like that. Leon got to his feet, his own gun and other belongings retrieved from the man's corpse, and kneeled beside her.

"Oh, God..." she gasped.

"Lara, I know you're in shock, but we have to keep moving. We're still not safe," Leon said with compassion, gently laying his hand on her shoulder. Composing herself, she stood, picked up the pistol and retrieved her bow. Nodding to Leon, they pressed on.

A spare mag for the pistol, a deadly shootout, another failed hiding spot where they were nearly burned alive, and several more dead henchmen later, they spotted a ladder.

"Let's get away from here," Leon growled. Lara nodded and quickly ascended the ladder with Leon close behind.

He knew deep down she was still struggling some with the fact she killed a person, several to be exact. She would need a lot of support getting past it.

 _'Which means I'll have to delve into the past I was hoping would stay buried.'_

 **AN: New chapter! These chapters are a pain...also I apologize if I'm not getting Lara's character right. I'm trying to write this by the game walkthrough since I never finished it. Sorry if it's inaccurate. Enjoy the new installment and stay tuned!**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider, Leon and Lara meet up with Roth and possibly get in some rock climbing practice. Coming soon!**


	6. Wolves At The Door

Chapter 5: Wolves At The Door

As they began ascending the ladder, Roth radioed in.

 _"Leon, Lara, are you there?"_

"Yes!" Lara gasped.

"Affirmative," Leon was a bit calmer.

 _"I can see smoke coming from the old ruins. Are you both okay?"_

"Oh, god...Roth, we're in trouble. They're killing people," Lara said, a tremble evident in her voice.

 _"What? Who?"_

"These men here. Whoever they are, Roth, they're killing people. We don't know why," Leon added, his tone troubled.

"We had to kill some of them. We had no choice," Lara nearly broke.

 _"That can't have been easy."_

"It's scary just how easy it was," Lara replied. Leon said nothing. He'd already gone through these motions and was not looking forward to digging up the past.

"You've got to warn the others, Roth." Lara's voice brought him back to the moment.

 _"Don't worry about them right now. You and Leon just do whatever it takes to get to me, Lara."_

"We'll try," Lara replied.

"We will. Keep your head down til we get there, Roth," Leon added.

The radio cut off and they set about exploring the rest of the ruins. Along with numerous boxes of salvage, there were several large containers.

"Who left these behind?" Lara wondered. Leon remained quiet.

They found two more guards at the gate of the Mountain Temple. They utilized their silent kill and dispatched the guards. Finding a way in, they heard more guards talking about them.

"They're in here somewhere. Find them!"

"Capture or kill?"

"Kill them. They're too much trouble."

"Especially the guy. The wallet one of our subordinates pulled off him the first night said he's Government."

"You two. Check that side."

"Got it."

Spotting a lantern hanging above the mountain of junk blocking their path, Lara drew back on her bow. Leon shot her questioning look and she signaled him to be quiet. She shot the lantern, which in turn set the blockage in front of them ablaze.

"What was that?!"

"Quiet! Quiet!"

After the blockage burned away, they continued into the temple.

"Keep looking! They've gotta be in here somewhere!"

Leon took out the guard blocking them before turning back to Lara.

"Stealth kills only for now. It won't draw as much attention." She nodded in understanding before they proceeded.

"You find anything on that side?"

"No, not a damned thing!"

"Whoa!"

"Hey, watch it!"

"How far down does it go?"

"All the way to the sea caves."

"Damn. Maybe they fell?"

"No, I don't think so."

They moved forward carefully, trying not to draw their attention. They were nearly on top of the next few guards when...

"There they are!" came from a few levels up from them. Leon cursed before flaming arrows began flying. He pushed Lara down to avoid them being hit.

"Down below! Get them!"

"Watch it! The fire's spreading!"

"Hahah, I'm gonna burn them outta there!"

"What the hell are you doing? You'll burn the whole place down!"

"Hahah! Yeeah! Burn!"

"Dammit! Move, Lara, MOVE!" Leon yelled.

They jumped up and began the race outta the burning building with the fire spreading rapidly behind them. They ran, jumped gaps, climbed walls while desperately trying to stay out of the fire's reach. Finally they reached a zipline. Leon took the axe over the zipline while Lara held onto him at the waist as they ziplined to safety.

"Looks like we're going to get some rock climbing practice," Leon remarked, glancing at the cliffside at the top of the stairs.

"We can do this," Lara whispered. The gap was tight but big enough for them to wedge in and scoot upwards. Lara went first while Leon double checked that no one was following them, then started up himself. At the top, they found a collapsing but enclosed tunnel.

"Lara, wait a minute," Leon grunted, seizing her arm to prevent her from going too far ahead. It was then they heard gunfire not too far away but still at a distance. Leon drew his gun while Lara held an arrow to her bow.

"Aggh! Get back!"

"Roth?!" Lara asked, taking off at a run with Leon right behind her.

"Go on, get out of here! Go on!" he was yelling, shooting at some wolves.

"Roth!" Leon yelled. Roth collapsed after the last wolf went down.

"Roth, we're coming!" Lara cried.

They sprinted over to Roth, where Lara fell to her knees beside him.

"Thank God you're alive."

"That God's got nothing to do with it. It's good to see you, too, girl. And you, Mr. Kennedy. Thanks for looking out for her."

"Only doing my job, Roth," Leon answered while Lara gave him a tired, relieved smile.

Roth grunted in pain as Lara inspected his injured leg.

"Sorry. They did a real number on your leg."

"Nah. Looks worse than it is."

"You don't have to lie to us, Roth. That looks pretty damn painful," Leon remarked, kneeling down to inspect the injury as well.

"Have you heard from the others?" Lara asked him.

"Nothing," Roth replied, shaking his head. Then, using the boulder he'd been leaning against, he struggled to stand.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Lara panicked.

"Roth, you need to stay off that leg," Leon added, taking Roth's arm.

"The wolves took my food pack. The transmitter from the lifeboat's in it," Roth told them. "If we don't get it back, we're not getting off this bloody island."

"Yeah, but you need...you need bandages, morphine, antiseptic..." Lara protested with a bit of a stutter.

"Also in the pack."

"Shit," Leon groaned.

"Exactly," Roth agreed. Then he held his arm out to Lara. "Come here...come on."

Lara slung his arm around her shoulders while Leon held him up on the other side under his arm. They hadn't gotten three steps when Roth collapsed.

"Oh, don't do this to me, you Northern bastard," Lara whispered, near tears again.

"We gotta get that pack," Leon told her. "Let's get him comfortable by that camp he's set up, and go after the pack before he gets worse."

"Okay, okay, okay."

Together, they pulled Roth over to the camp. Leon looked up the cliffs as a wolf's howl broke the stillness of the area. He located the wolf high up on the cliffside.

"Probably where they took the pack," he said to Lara, who nodded in agreement.

"We need to hurry. Roth needs medical attention," Lara stated softly.

As they set about finding a way up to the pack, Lara side-noted that the ruins they passed through were of the Kamakura period.

"Was all this part of Yamatai?" she wondered.

The wolves occasional howling made Leon uneasy. Hell, this whole island made him uneasy, but the eerie howling took the cake in setting the mood, no matter how cliche it was.

After a bit of searching, they found a way up to where they needed to go. Scaling plane wrecks and jumping precarious gaps alike, they reached the cave the pack should be found in. Lara lit the torch and lead the way in, Leon behind her with his gun drawn and ready. At the very back of the cave, they found the pack. Leon took the transmitter and handed Lara the medical supplies.

"Okay, got to get this back to Roth," she said, pocketing the items.

They started back for the exit. Halfway there, however, the wolf responsible for the theft attacked them, grasping Leon's calf in it's fangs.

"Agh!"

"Leon!" Lara cried in worry.

"Filthy mutt! Get...the hell...off me!" Leon growled, kicking at the wolf. The wolf released him briefly, but came at him again. While Leon held it at bay with one arm, his free hand reached for the first available weapon - his hunting knife. After taking several stabs, the wolf collapsed, dead on top of him. Panting heavily, Leon pushe the body off and got to his feet.

"That was close...not in the mood for a kiss, but nice try," he said sarcastically to the corpse, nudging it with the toe of his boot.

"Are you alright?" Lara asked him. He nodded.

"My pants are thick enough it wasn't able to bite through. I'll be fine. Let's go. Roth may not have much time."

The mention of Roth spurred her back into a hurry. They quickly scaled their way down using the roofs, the wrecks, whatever wasn't a far, potentially fatal jump. Running back to the camp, they were relieved to find Roth was hanging in there.

Falling beside him, Lara reached for the medical supplies.

"Right, let's get you patched up." Leon sat off to the side, keeping watch as she worked.

Some time later, Roth woke up and sat upright with a groan.

"Roth!" Lara exclaimed in a whisper.

"Easy, there. You're still not in the best of shapes to be moving too much," Leon added.

Lara helped him scoot around to lean against some barrels and sat next to him, Leon a few feet away. Roth studied his bandaged leg.

"It's not bad...where does a young lady like you learn to do a thing like that?"

Lara managed a breathy laugh at that. Even Leon allowed himself a chuckle.

"I was wondering the same thing earlier, Roth," he commented.

"Late shift at the Nine Bells," Lara answered them both. "A wolf's got nothing on a broken bottle."

"Hey, you both got it," he said, pointing to the transmitter beside Leon's foot. "Nice work."

"So, I assume the plan is to take that up to the radio tower?" Lara questioned him.

"That should give us the best shot at broadcasting a strong signal in every direction," Roth answered. After a moment, he added, "Look, Lara. You too, Leon. We need to send out that SOS and I'm not climbing anytime soon."

"Yeah, I was afraid you were going to say that," Lara groaned a bit.

"You can do it, Lara. After all, you're a Croft," Roth assured her.

"I don't think I'm that kind of Croft," Lara replied, shaking her head slightly.

"Sure you are," Leon cut in for Roth. "You just don't know it yet."

Roth nodded and hand them a pick axe for rock climbing.

Lara looked up at the distant tower then back at Roth.

"Well, let's hope I'm a fast learner, then."

She grabbed the axe and went to stand when Roth grabbed her wrist.

"Just be careful, Lara," he added quietly.

As she stood and began to walk away, Leon lingered behind a moment with Roth.

"I'll continue to look after her for you, Roth. I'll also have to tell her at some point about..." he trailed off, but Roth knew what he was referring to.

"I doubt there's a soul alive who doesn't know about Raccoon City, Leon. You decide what you want her to know. I doubt at this point she'll think of you any less since she's now living a similar experience. She has a good head on her shoulders and, believe it or not, a heart of gold. She'll understand."

Leon nodded and started after Lara.

 _'I really hope you're right, Roth. The reception of this kind of thing hasn't been too warm in the past. Let this be different.'_

 **AN: New chapter! Ugh, I never thought this would be so difficult, but I'm trying, everyone. Enjoy the new installment and stay tuned!**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider, Leon tells Lara a little more about his past as they make their way up the mountain. Coming soon!**


	7. AN

**AN: Not a chapter! I'm sorry for not updating, guys. I've been having computer trouble and I think I finally got things going again. So hopefully there will be a new update SOON!**

 **Also, I found Tomb Raider for my game system! XD**

 **Now, my next step will be getting my system working...I swear it's like I break every electronic I touch...**

 **So yeah, new chapter coming soon, everyone! I promise! I'm dead set on finishing this come hell or highwater! Stay tuned and be patient.**

 **Thanks!**


	8. Cry For Help

Chapter 6: Cry For Help

"Well, looks like we get to brush up on rock climbing," Leon stated as he regrouped with Lara by the cliffside. She had already started up with Roth's axe heading for the top of the falls.

 _'Guess the pry axe will have to work for me. Should be sturdy enough for this if it can bust open rusted doors and act as a handle'_

Digging the axe into the cliffside, he began to follow her up. He then decided maybe she should start taking the lead a bit more. She would have to learn to survive without someone helping her all the time. Only then would she become a stronger person.

They scaled the walls quickly and reached the top of the falls with relative ease. However, when they got there, they quickly found themselves among more unwanted company.

"You find anything?!"

"No! Nothing!"

"What?"

"Nothing! There's no one up here! They never make it up this far!"

"You bastards are about to be surprised," Leon groused lowly.

"Should we head back up to the bunker?!"

"Nah, let's wait out the storm!"

"Got it!"

"Stay alert!"

"Let's move inside."

As they rotated their positions, a different conversation started.

"This a good idea?"

"We got some time. Might as well relax. They'll probably put us on wreck duty later."

"So what do you think they use it for?"

"What...the radio tower?"

"Yeah. It still works, right?"

"Probably. We got people up there guarding it day and night."

"Oh joy. They're up there, too," Leon groaned.

"Father Mathias doesn't want anyone going near it."

"Father _Mathias_?!" Leon growled.

"You think he's got a line to the outside?"

"Why do you think no survivors ever make it up this far?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mathias knows exactly when a new ship is coming in. We always have plenty of time to prepare."

As this was said, Leon was faintly aware that Lara took out the other guard with her bow before focusing back onto the conversation.

"So...he's fishing. Using that tower to lure ships."

Before anything else was said, Lara turned her bow and fired on them.

"What the hell?"

Before the second one could investigate, Leon drew his gun and shot him in the head. With the guards down, they moved in to look around.

"Numbers...some kind of coordinates? Did someone want these to be found?" Lara questioned, holding a piece of paper.

"Could have. But now's not the time to consider it. Gotta keep moving," Leon replied.

Making their way back outside, they began scaling the cliffs again.

'Nowhere to go but up, it seem,' Leon thought to himself.

As they reached the top, the remains of the bridge looked weak and ready to fall apart.

"Get a running start and jump. I don't trust this to hold us," he advised Lara, who nodded in response. At the same time, they took a running start as the remains under their feet cracked and broke apart. As it finished its collapse, they jumped, jamming the axes into the cliff to stop their potential fall.

"Fucking right once again, Kennedy. You're just a sucker for punishment, aren't you?" Leon grumbled sarcastically to himself, though Lara heard him and breathed a quick laugh. She then began to pull herself up the cliff, Leon following suit.

As they pulled themselves up, Reyes radioed in.

 _"Lara...Leon...are you there?"_

"Reyes! Did you find Sam?" Lara replied.

 _"We're still on her trail."_

"Leon and I are going to try and send an SOS from an old radio tower up here. Any tips?"

It was Alex's voice that answered her.

 _"Hey, Lara! You and Leon will need to find the communications console. It'll look like a bunch of old switchboards."_

"Got it. We'll radio back when we find it," Leon replied.

The radio cut off and they ziplined down the rope using their axes. When they landed, however, they weren't given a warm reception.

"Hey! Hey! Wake up! Wake up, we got intruders!"

"Dammit, really?" Leon growled, he and Lara quickly ducking down as the guards advanced on them.

"Come on, grab them!"

"Please, you don't need to do this!" Lara begged.

"We're beyond that at this point, Lara!" Leon called from his position on the other side of the path.

"How'd they get up here?!"

After shooting a lantern to buy them at least a few seconds, they jumped up and ran headlong into the fray, dispatching the guards as they came. The last prepared to throw a Molotov cocktail at Leon, but Lara spotted him first and shot him with her pistol.

"Thanks for that," Leon said to her as they regrouped. Lara nodded to him.

"Looks like it's through here," she said, motioning to the tunnel in front of them. Leon lit their torch as he joined her at the mouth.

"Well, let's get to it, then."

After squeezing through a tight space in the wall, they came upon more wreckages on the other side.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Lara murmured. Leon nodded in agreement.

They paused at the camp to warm up and rest. There, Lara took the opportunity to ask Leon what had been on her mind.

"You've killed before, haven't you? You've shown indifference everytime we've had to kill these men. How can you be so calm about this?"

Leon sighed. He knew this had been a long time coming. Roth's reassurance echoed through his head and once again, he hoped Roth would be right.

 _'Well, here goes nothing,'_ he thought before beginning to try and explain.

"I told you on the ship, remember? I didn't go into detail, no. But before, the people I've had to kill...weren't technically people anymore."

Lara's expression became one of confusion so Leon continued to elaborate.

"Do you know anything about the Raccoon City incident?" When she shook her head, he pressed on.

"It was my first day on the job at the Raccoon City Police Department. It would later end up being my only day. A virus broke out, and the population became infected undead. The more advanced viruses turned you into mutants. It forced those uninfected and still alive to kill those who were infected. At the end of it all, the city became a radiation wasteland with very few survivors. I was one of the lucky few. So was my friend, Claire Redfield, this little girl we rescued, Sherry Birkin, and...Ada Wong."

It didn't take long for Lara to guess who this Ada person was to him.

"You love her, don't you?"

Leon shook his head. "She's...a real mystery. Everytime I get it in my head she's this person, she becomes someone else entirely. At first, I thought she was just another victim, then she turned out to be working for Umbrella, the organization responsible for the virus outbreaks. So I get it decided she's the enemy, then she turns around and helps me somehow. She'll always be a part of me..." He trailed off, unsure of how to finish the thought.

Lara was quiet for a moment, processing everything. Leon waited, bracing himself for the general reaction. "You emotionless killer! You're a magnet for danger! Leave me alone!" Something along those lines. But what she actually said had him stunned.

"You're allowed to not forget her. Just don't let her make you forget yourself along the way."

Leon sat there in stunned silence, stupidly gaping at her like a fish. He wasn't sure what to feel. He appreciated that she didn't judge him after all, but how was she so calm about everything else? He supposed Roth was right about that, too. Since she was currently living her own nightmarish experience, maybe she understood better. And this was the first time he'd even brought up Ada since being placed on this assignment.

 _'Then again, we're more concerned about surviving against a mass group of islanders gone psychotically mad.'_

She smiled at him and then pulled out Sam's camera. Leon shook away his swirling thoughts and watched silently over her shoulder from behind.

 _Reyes was working on the ship with Alex flipping through a magazine nearby._

 _"I'm telling you, Reyes, it's mechanical, not an electrical problem."_

 _"Now, Alex!" came Reyes's annoyed reply._

 _He shook his head and threw a switch, coughing as it emitted more smoke than there alread_ _y was._

 _"This looks like it might be an electrical problem."_

 _"You think?" Reyes asked sarcastically._

 _"Oh, hello. Hey, who's this little fox, huh?" he asked, holding up a photograph._

 _"She's cute, huh?"_

 _"Very cute."_

 _"That's Alisha."_

 _"Alisha. I like that."_

 _"It's my daughter."_

 _"Oh."_

 _"14 years old and smarter than you'll ever be."_

 _"She must...must get that from her father."_

 _"Don't give him the attention. And...yeah."_

 _"I'll take a look at this...probably electrical. From her father...nice one."_

 _The camera then show Grim. He seemed to be telling a story._

 _"So, I was on the loch, right, doin' a spot of midnight fishing..."_

 _Roth cut him off._

 _"Hey, Grim. Time to batten down the hatches."_

 _"Aye. I'll be right with you. So...I was on the loch, right...an' this thing comes looming at me, looming outta water, it was! So I gives it the old Glasgow kiss. You know...gets you out of trouble nine times out of ten, that does! Took me a week to sleep that night off and I've not touched a drop since! See you at dinner, Sam!"_

 _Then, he left the cabin._

 _The camera then panned to the left, catching Roth and Reyes in an apparent private moment._

 _The scene then cut to the day Jonah was teaching Twitman how to cut a fish._

 _After he stormed off and Sam went after him, Leon came into the shot. He had been unaware that the cameras were still rolling as he helped Jonah out until Whitman came back._

 _The camera cut again to Lara speaking to Roth this time._

 _"I've studied them so much, I can see charts on the back of my eyelids. But if I'm not right about Yamatai being in the Dragon's Triangle..."_

 _Roth spoke up at this point, looking at Lara's necklace._

 _"I remember when you found that on one of your father's digs. You ran up and showed it to me dressed in your penguin pajamas."_

 _Lara laughed with him. "I was five years old. It was my first find."_

 _They paused against the railing._

 _"You've got good instincts, girl. You just have to trust them."_

 _"That's what my father used to say."_

 _"Now there was a man that ran on instinct...for better or worse...he would've been so proud of you, Lara."_

 _"We're getting closer to the storm."_

 _"Well, whatever's coming, we'll get through it, eh?"_

 _Then, they noticed Leon at the bow, watching the horizon._

 _"Go talk to him, girl. He doesn't even know why he's here, just that he was ordered to come. Just...maybe get to know him better. He might surprise you."_

 _Lara glanced between the agent and Roth for a moment before going over to talk to this stranger._

 _"I so smell chemistry between those two," Sam's voice commented before the video cut out completely._

Lara put the camera away and stood up, Leon already on his feet and patiently waiting.

"Okay, Lara. Pull yourself together. They're counting on you and Leon," she mumbled to herself, though Leon caught it anyway and allowed a brief, small smile to grace his face.

"Shall we then, Miss Croft?" Leon asked, motioning down the pathway. Lara nodded and trotted off down the path with Leon a few paces behind her.

 _'I'm glad you were right, Roth. But no one's out of the woods yet...'_

 **AN: Here's the new chapter I promised, FINALLY! Thanks for being patient and hope no one seemed too OOC. Enjoy!**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: Leon and Lara make their way up the mountain to send out the SOS. Stay tuned!**


	9. AN 2

**AN: Not a chapter, again.**

 **Hey everyone. I haven't gotten the next part done yet. Seems with the changing season, I've caught some kinda sicky bug. I was up and down all night feeling like I was gonna be sick and I'm not eating too good.**

 **As soon as I'm feeling back up to it, I'll get the next part of Resident Tomb Raider up for you guys!**

 **Sorry again and I appreciate your patience!**


	10. Relics

Chapter 7: Relics

They had barely gotten out of the camp when the voices of more henchmen paused them.

"It's freezing out here!"

Lara shushed Leon, though she didn't need to. He already knew to be quiet.

"You'll get used to it. It's even colder up by the radio tower."

"The weather on this island is crazy."

"Everything about this island is crazy, brother."

"Hey! Get that damned gun off me!"

Using her bow, Lara shot out the spotlight just above the pathway.

"Aw, damn it."

"Burned out again."

"Surprised they even work after so many years."

"You men are idiots," Leon grumbled as Lara aimed for the guards next.

After several well-executed shots to the head, the men all lay dead strewn upon the ground and they were advancing forward.

"You're becoming deadly with that bow, Lara. Keep it up," Leon praised her, to which she smiled a bit proudly.

They entered the building and Lara prepared to silently kill the man welding something when he suddenly turned around and spotted them.

"Shit!" Leon cursed as he quickly drew his gun and shot the man in the head, as Lara was too close to use her weapons. Unfortunately, the gunshot alerted the man's reinforcements as a second henchman came running down from the upper level. Still, Leon was quicker and disposed of him as well.

As they continued up the stairs and onto the balcony, three more men intercepted them.

"God, how many of them are there?" Leon growled, ducking behind some boxes with his gun drawn to provide Lara with cover fire as she went at them with her bow. When she had to take cover herself, Leon took the reins and shot at them til she got her bearings back.

After dispatching the men, they jumped a still partially there walking into another building this a WWII era bunker. They scaled walls and climbed walkways, heading toward the top. Zip-lining down from the top, they landed in some partially flooded ruins.

"Ah, it's freezing!" Lara gasped as she hit the water.

"Even through my pants," Leon agreed. His pants were thick enough to protect him from several environmental changes, but the cold water seeped through as if they were nothing. His shirt, also wet from the water, was thinner and not as protective from the unstable environment.

"Over here!"

"Alright, let's get these lines hooked up. The brothers inside need power."

"Ow, fuck!"

"You okay?"

"Fine, fine. Just do the job!"

Leon stopped them when he discovered a journal. It appeared to belong to one of the islanders, the "First Solarii" according to the entry. The entry talked about controlling the guns and food. Anything the storms bring to the island was theirs and they decided the fates of the new survivors. Any who defied them were killed.

"We are the masters of this fucked up prison," Leon finished quietly.

"My God. Who are these people?" Lara questioned.

"They may have once been like us before losing their sanity to the island. At least now we have a name for them. Solarii. They sound almost like a cult," Leon replied. "We better be extra careful from here on out." Lara nodded in agreement.

"How many came in from the new wreck?"

"A couple dozen and some women. Father Mathias brought one in himself."

"For the ritual?"

 _'Ritual?'_ Leon wondered.

"Probably. We'll find out tonight."

Lara used her axe to turn the valve and shut off the gas. It was then Leon noticed a message on the wall under an old breaker box.

 _No one leaves_

 _'That's unsettling,'_ Leon thought as he followed behind Lara into the next room. The voices were getting closer.

"Careful, careful! It's loaded with fuel!"

"Yeah...no shit!"

"What do they need it for?"

"Generator, probably...for the tower."

"How the hell are we gonna get it up the stairs?"

"Good question."

"Let's just leave it here for now. We can get some of the others up front to help us out."

"Fine with me. Let's go."

They then started walking toward Leon and Lara's current position. Quickly, they dashed back to the crawlspace they came from. When one of the men came into the room, Lara snuck up and utilized her silent kill, and the guard fell dead at her feet. Turning toward the other one just outside the door, Leon went for him. Holstering his gun, he quickly ran at the guy, wrapping an arm around his neck and his opposite hand covering the man's mouth as he snapped the man's neck with a sharp jerk.

As Lara killed a third guard at the top of the stairs, they were caught off guard by another man jumping through an opening up above them. Acting before thinking, Leon drew his gun again and shot the man before he got too close to them. They then climbed up and through where the man had come from.

In the next room, there was a large window.

"That glass looks weak," Lara commented.

"Still probably need something with a lot of kick to bust it," Leon replied. "Maybe there's something in there."

They climbed over into what looked like an old power room. As Leon hit the ground, he noticed Lara already messing with a valve.

"Lara, wait!"

But he was too late. The valve switched on the gas as another guard came toward them from the other side.

"There's nowhere to run, outsiders!"

"What the hell?" Lara questioned as he attacked the glass with the butt of his rifle.

"Lara, back through here! Get out of the room!" Leon called from the opening. Lara was quick to follow him. Once out of the gas-filled room, Leon picked up a lantern and aimed for the opening. With a careful toss, the lantern shattered and created a massive explosion in the confined area.

The resulting blast blew everyone back, and Leon was rammed headlong into the wall behind him. Spots danced in his vision before everything when black.

 **AN: New chapter FINALLY! Sorry it took so long but my fiance and I went through a tragedy on the 17th, two days before my birthday. Then, I was away from my computer til today and...well, yeah. Anyway, I'm back and I'll try to update at least every other day for a bit to make up for the wait. I appreciate your patience, everyone!**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: The fight to get to the SOS sent out continues as Leon and Lara attempt to locate a power source.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	11. Diary Of A Madman

Chapter 8: Diary of a Madman

After Lara did a quick sweep of the area just ahead, and mercifully put the man that intended to attack them out of his misery, she returned to Leon's side and attempted to rouse him back to consciousness.

"Leon! Leon, please don't be dead! Wake up!" she whispered lowly as she shook his still form. A brief pause with no results, then Leon groaned and, with a racking cough that shook through his entire body, his eyes slowly slid open.

"What the hell happened?" he groaned.

"The explosion threw you into the wall. I think headfirst," Lara replied, relieved he seemed to be alright.

"That would explain my massive headache. I've got to have a concussion by now," he groused, his hand going to his head and rubbing gently as he hissed.

"Be careful with it, then. Come on, let's get you back on your feet."

Slinging his arm around her shoulders, she helped him to his feet. He staggered a bit once he was upright, but he steadied himself just as quickly.

"Okay, I'm fine. We need to keep moving."

As they pressed forward, passing the man's corpse, they heard shouts of warning.

"They're coming!"

"Guess that's our thicker security," Leon groaned.

They entered a warehouse-like room and were immediately blinded by several floodlights.

"Now! Light them up!"

"Ah, shit!" Leon growled, the offending lights making his headache worse and making it harder for him to concentrate.

"Leon, get down!" Lara cried, putting up a gun he hadn't noticed before and started firing.

"She has a machine gun! Get down!"

 _'Where did she get a machine gun?'_ Leon briefly wondered as he ducked down to avoid the incoming fire.

Several minutes, which felt like an eternity, went by as gunfire seemed to echo in the confined space, amplifying Leon's headache even more. Just as quickly as it started, it suddenly became quiet, and Lara was pulling him back to his feet.

"You hurt at all?" he asked, silently looking her over for wounds. She shook her head.

"How about you?" she replied. He also shook his head.

"But then again, I wasn't out in the line of fire." Then as an afterthought, he added, "Thanks for saving my ass. Gotta shake off this headache."

"You took a nasty blow to your head. You may be out of sorts for a bit and that's alright. Consider it payback for keeping me alive this long."

Leon chuckled and helped her loot anything of use from the many bodies strewn about before they continued on.

"Let's check through here," Lara said, pointing to a hallway to their left.

"I hope we find that console Alex mentioned here," he commented. Lara nodded in agreement.

Together, they took out a leftover guard who jumped down from the vent above them and pried open the door at the end of the hall. Inside the room, they found...

"Holy shit. Looks like this is it," Leon gasped. His throbbing head was making every little thing difficult as his concentration was very hazy.

The console, however, was so old he doubted it worked anymore. It was covered in dead leaves and, as he suspected, when Lara attempted the switch, it came off into her hand.

"Dammit!" he cursed. Lara looked ready to start cursing herself, but instead grabbed the radio.

"Alex? Are you there?"

A few seconds later, an out of breath Alex radioed back. _"Yeah."_

"The console's a wreck."

 _"Damn it."_

"Just what I said," Leon stated, gently taking the radio from her. "What do we do now?"

 _"Well, unless you two see a Radio Shack around, you're going to have to patch it manually through the maintenance panel."_

"Okay. That sounds simple enough," Lara replied.

"Almost _too_ simple. What's the catch, Alex?" Leon asked.

 _"You two have to find it first. On those old towers, they installed the panels high up. I mean, way high up."_

"Climbing again," Lara groaned.

"Just great," Leon added.

As they made to look for a way out, Leon found another diary. To his surprise, this one belonged to _Father Mathias_.

"Lara, come here," he called as he began reading it out loud.

Mathias talked about being the only survivor of his group, the others attempting vainly to escape in a makeshift boat that was quickly and ultimately lost at sea. He talked about how the storms of the island weren't random or even natural, that there appeared to be emotion behind them.

"I knew he wasn't what he was making himself out to be. He's one of them and can't be trusted," Leon growled as he practically threw the diary down.

"Sam went with him! The others have to find her and soon," Lara cried, suddenly immensely worried for her friend's well-being.

"I'm sure they will, Lara. We have to call for help right now. We have to get to that tower."

They set off down the adjoining hall where they discovered another tight walk-space filled with pipes. As Lara ducked and nearly grabbed the pipe above her head, Leon quickly grabbed her wrist.

"No! Don't touch the pipes. They's scalding hot and you'll get burned."

She nodded and they shimmied through, careful to avoid touching the pipes.

"That tower better work after all this," Lara commented.

"You're telling me," Leon agreed as they ducked under a pipe cluster.

A pipe burst a cloud of hot steam in front of them. Leon pulled Lara back just before she was hit.

"Crouch down and crawl. Maybe the lower we are, the less likely the steam will reach us."

They did as he suggested and avoided anymore bursts of steam. Lara kicked down the vent in front of them and they staggered out into...

"Snow?" Leon asked, confused. Sure enough, light flurries of snow whipped around them.

"This isn't normal," Lara stated.

"Now I wish more than ever I had my jacket. You could use one, too," Leon remarked as he suppressed a violent shiver.

They prepared to cross the bridge. They quickly noticed the only way across was a small, loose-looking beam.

"You're kidding me. This is like the tree on the cliffside all over again," Leon growled as they approached it.

"At least this looks less flimsy," Lara called back as she quickly crossed the gap and onto the bridge piece with a little hop. However, before Leon could join her, a man jumped out from behind the truck, taking Lara by surprise.

"I got one! Ah...hah! Come here!" he cried, seizing her by the waist and attempting to throw her off the side of the bridge. The moment she was in the air, Lara grabbed onto the side of the truck's bed, preventing the man from throwing her anywhere.

"Ahh! Get off! Let go!" Lara yelled, kicking him in the face and sending him hurtling off the bridge to his death.

Leon crossed the beam in three large but careful strides and was at Lara's side immediately.

"You alright?" he asked as she attempted to calm down. After a moment, she nodded and they continued on with their handguns drawn.

The next leg of their mission resulted in ducking and weaving behind several barriers to avoid enemy fire while taking down the enemies with fire of their own. The men shouted orders to each other trying to stop them as they shot, ducked, and exploded their way further into the base.

Ducking into one building structure, they discovered another of Mathias's diaries. This one talked about Mathias gathering his followers, the Solarii brotherhood, trained to be merciless killers. It also expressed Mathias's desire to take the island for himself and uncover the "true secret behind the storms". The madness in his recordings made Leon's unease grow even more.

 _'So that son of a bitch is their fucking LEADER. What kind of psychopaths are we really dealing with?'_

 **AN: New chapter! I'm slowly but surely getting my writing mojo back! Thanks to all of you who support this story! Means so much!**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: Leon and Lara finally reach the radio tower and broadcast the SOS, but soon after discover they're far from smooth sailing.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	12. The Broadcast Tower

Chapter 9: The Broadcast Tower

After what felt like forever to Leon, they reached the building that would give them access to the tower. But any hopes that the fight was over were dashed when a bigger henchman in a mask came barging out, brandishing a machete and a shield.

"Out of the way! They're mine!"

"Ah, hell," Leon groaned as his head started spinning again.

Seeing his predicament, Lara pushed him to the ground where he was protected by one of the barriers.

"Okay, focus. You can do this," she muttered to herself.

Then, she charged at the man while firing the machine gun. Leon watched on as she fought the masked madman, powerless to help her in his current condition. But somehow, she managed to get a lucky shot in and the man collapsed at her feet.

"Oh, shit! They're still alive?! Run!"

"Yes, still alive," Lara growled as she helped Leon get back on his feet.

"Let's burn those fuckers outta there," Leon growled as well, drawing his Beretta.

He gunned down the men who'd sicked their big friend on them and they entered the building. They collected numerous containers of salvage inside.

"Never know when all this could come in handy," Leon remarked.

Getting to the top and going back out into the flurry, they spotted a rope that would get them over to the tower.

"I don't think this thing can handle more than one at a time and I'm not risking your life if it falls. I think you can take it from here. I'll radio you when I clear the area of any other threats and meet you at the other end of that zipline," Leon stated, indicating said area before leaving Lara to broadcast the SOS.

Using the rope, Lara inched her way over and onto the tower. Going over to the rusty ladder, she glanced up before putting her foot onto the first rung.

"Okay...here goes."

As she ascended toward the top, one section was rusted to the point it gave way under her weight, nearly taking her with it down the mountain. She reached the middle ground and paused for a brief moment to get her wits back. Another ladder and she was nearly at the top. The final leg of the climb was a risky one. She nearly fell several times, but managed to reach the panel. She then contacted Alex.

"Alex?"

 _"Lara."_

"I'm at the panel." She opened the panel as she said this.

 _"Okay. The tower should boost the signal from the transmitter."_

She placed the radio on top of the panel and placed the transmitter inside next to the broadcasting system.

"Okay."

 _"Alright. Find the emergency channel and get a clear signal on your radio before you broadcast the SOS. Hey, we got everything crossed for you down here, L.C."_

"Thank you."

After a moment of tuning, Lara found the channel and cleared up the signal.

"Mayday, mayday. This is Lara Croft of the Endurance. We are stranded on an island in the Dragon's Triangle. We need help and medical supplies. Please respond."

No answer came, and Lara attempted the SOS again when a voice cut in.

 _"This is aircraft N177A. Searching for you since the distress call from your vessel. Almost given up hope!"_

"So had we!" Lara nearly sobbed in relief.

 _"We've got your approximate position, but we sure could use a visual."_

"I'll figure something out!"

 _"We'll be heading your way soon. Out."_

Alex's voice, filled with laughter, came through the radio.

 _"Lara Croft, you are my hero! WOOHOO! Hey, you know, Reyes actually just cracked a smile!"_

"Right. Need a signal. A fire. Fuel Flames. I can do that."

Just then, Leon's voice came through the radio.

 _"Well done, Lara. I knew you could do it. It's all clear down here and I think I see some materials we can use for a signal fire."_

"Great. I'll be down soon."

Finding the zipline Leon indicated earlier, she zoomed down from the tower back to ground level.

"That's one way to get down."

"Looked like fun, too."

Glancing up, she saw Leon just in front of her.

"Come on. The stuff I found's over here."

She followed him around the corner and down the path to a small area with a building and...

"Fuel tanks!"

"Get some fuel out of them. I'll look for something to light it up with."

Lara pried the valve open with her axe, letting a large amount of fuel spill out onto the ground. Leon came out of the building with a little piece of metal in his hand.

"Lara, look at this. A fire striker! Now we don't have to always be looking for a barrel to light the torch."

Lara attached the metal to the torch and struck it, effectively lighting the torch. She then lowered it to the fuel. The flames followed the fuel path to the tanks and they exploded, creating a more massive, noticeable blaze.

They watched the sky for a moment before they heard it.

"There it is!" Lara breathed, pointing it out. She started jumping and waving her arms, attempting to flag it.

That was when things took a turn for the worse.

As the plane turned toward the island, black clouds gathered behind it.

"No...we aren't going anywhere," Leon murmured as he and Lara looked on in horror.

Two big blasts of lightning hit the plane, sending it hurtling toward the ground. A voice echoed behind the thunder in Japanese. Roughly translated to Leon, it sounded like the voice was saying the message he'd seen scrawled in many places on the island.

 _No one leaves._

That was when Leon realized the plane was heading for them.

"Fuck! Run, Lara! RUN!"

They turned and ran, hoping to somehow outrun the wrecking plane. They then found themselves sliding down the cliffside. They rolled, tumbled, and avoided any obstacles before coming to a screeching halt, nearly falling off some ruins into a canyon below had they not grabbed the ledge in time. They pulled themselves up, but barely had a second to catch their breath before Leon tackled Lara onto a neighboring structure, barely missing the impact from one of the plane's four engines.

Lara coughed as she swayed into a sitting position on her knees while Leon remained on his back in a daze as he'd landed, trying both to catch his breath and wrap his heavy head around what had just happened. A storm appeared out of a clear blue sky? It just wasn't possible! Yet they witnessed it with their own eyes.

 _'Now isn't the time for this. Gotta get up. Keep moving!'_

With a bit of effort, Leon forced himself to sit up. He and Lara looked up at the sound of screaming in time to see the pilot parachuting down not far from them. Leon then staggered to his feet.

"We've gotta get to him before the islanders do."

They set off into the Cliffside Ruins. Upon busting through the weak wall of the house in front of them, the whole cliffside became unstable.

"It's all going to collapse! Hurry, Leon!" Lara called over her shoulder to him as they broke into a run. They jumped, slid, swung, and busted through everything in their path, desperate to avoid perishing in the destruction.

Finally, they reached a section of the village that was not collapsing into the unknown below them. They froze at the sound of gunshots accompanied by the pilot's voice.

"What? What the hell? Go away! Go away! Get, get off of me!"

He said no more after that as he was viciously stabbed in the abdomen by his surviving attacker.

"Dammit," Leon cursed softly.

 _"Lara! Leon! You there?"_ Roth's voice coming from the radio on Lara's belt startled them and drew the man's attention.

" _Really_ bad timing on that one, Roth!" Leon muttered as the man came at them.

Not wanting to waste time or ammo, Leon aimed for the head and stopped him before he could do anything. Panting from all the exertion, Leon wandered over to the pilot.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to you before they did. Rest in peace."

They continued on and paused several feet beyond the pilot's corpse to make camp for a quick rest.

"I can't get it out of my head," Lara broke the silence. Leon realized she was writing it down as she spoke. "A storm that came out of nowhere, out of a clear sky, and brought down a plane. It's not rational. You know it's not rational. There must be some explanation, I...I just don't know what it is yet."

"I have your explanation," Leon growled. The bleak situation they were all in, the pain he felt from his injuries, and the overall experiences on the island had him finally reaching his limits with patience. Lara looked up, startled by his sudden angry tone.

"Your explanation is that nothing, I mean fucking _NOTHING_ , on this damned island makes any sense! You saw what I saw, too! I think it was established a while back that whatever is going on here is _FAR_ from normal! Not everything in this world has a rational explanation and we aren't going crazy, yet at least. Not everything was built on scientific facts, Lara. Understand that and accept it!"

Then, he stormed off just ahead. He hoped he would cool off in the time he would be alone. He hadn't truly meant to snap at Lara, but the fact of their situation remained.

 _'We can call for help all we want. All we're accomplishing is bringing the Solarii more victims.'_

 **AN: New chapter! I'm pleased with how this one turned out. Possibly my favorite chapter so far.**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: We see what happens with Leon and Lara during their period of separation for the first time since the nightmare began.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	13. A Road Less Traveled

Chapter 10: A Road Less Traveled

(With Lara)

Lara waited a little longer than she would've liked, but when Leon didn't return, she struck out on her own, his angry words still echoing in her head.

 _'Not everything was built on scientific facts, Lara. Understand that and accept it!'_

In a way, she understood. The situation they were in and the things they'd seen so far, there really was no way to scientifically prove the irrationality of it all.

 _"Lara?! Leon?! What the hell happened?"_ Roth's voice came from the radio as she was ascending some stairs.

"This storm...it came out of nowhere. These clouds, they just surrounded the plane!" Lara explained, still a bit shaken by what happened.

 _"Lara, listen. I saw the crash from here, so you must be close to my position. Just get back here safe!"_

"Alright. On my way."

As she reached the top, however, she found herself upside down in a snare trap.

"Heads up!"

"Over here!"

"There! We got her!"

Lara drew her pistol and started firing the best she could upside down.

"Stay back!" she yelled as she fired.

When she had shot enough of them to get a moment's reprieve, she next shot the pulley that held her up in the snare. Once on the ground, she ducked behind a crate as more men fired at her from above. Glancing down next to her, she saw some rope. Getting a crazy idea, she tied the rope to her arrow and used it to pull down the support beams to the huts some of them were stationed in while simply shooting the rest.

"There's got to be a way up," she murmured.

Utilizing her new rope arrows, she climbed up to the huts. While there was no route to take, there was plenty of salvage.

 _"Never know when all this could come in handy."_

Again, she found Leon's words ringing through her head. It was amazing how much the introverted agent had affected her in such a short time. She wondered how he was faring or what he was even doing on his own.

"He's fine, I'm sure. He's a Government Agent, after all."

Getting down from the higher up hut, she realized she'd went past the route she needed. Chuckling to herself, she made her way down the little path to a river with no bridge.

 _'No problem,'_ she thought, using her rope arrow to make her own bridge.

Crossing over the river, she pressed on. Pulling down an old door with the rope arrow, she then followed the enclosed tunnel. After a short slide at the end, she was back outside, where Roth was waiting for her.

"I'm really glad you moved," she said as she approached him.

"You and me both, girl."

"One moment they were fine. The next, there was this storm. It came out of nowhere."

"It's not your fault, Lara."

"I called them here, Roth."

"Hey, we'll find another way."

Then, from the radio, came the voice of the other pilot.

 _"Mayday, mayday. This is co-pilot Jessop of aircraft N177A."_

"Another pilot!" Lara gasped, grabbing her radio. "Hello? Hello, can you hear me?"

 _"I got badly hurt when I landed and need urgent aid! Is anyone there?"_

"Captain Jessop, do you read?"

 _"I've deployed a smoke signal. Please respond."_

"Damn it, he can't hear me. I have to get to him."

"No."

"His signal's just over there," Lara pointed, seeing the blue smoke.

"We've got our own people to worry about," Roth objected. "We'll need to regroup as soon as they find Sam."

"I can't just leave him out there alone. I need to get to him." _'And maybe Leon, too.'_

Roth grabbed her arm as she started walking away.

"Sometimes, you've got to make sacrifices, Lara. You can't save everyone."

Lara jerked her arm out of his grip. "I know about sacrifices."

"No, you know about loss. Sacrifice is a choice you make, loss is a choice made for you."

"I can't choose to let him die, Roth." With that, she turned away and began planning to get to the pilot.

(With Leon)

Unbeknownst to Lara, Leon had heard everything as well and was already en route to Jessop's location. He had stormed away quite a distance from their camp, so much so that he was actually much closer to Jessop than she and Roth, and now that he was thinking with a clearer head, he regretted a lot of it. Firstly, he regretted ever snapping at Lara or even being in a bad mood with her. After all, none of this was her fault. She couldn't possibly have known any of this would happen. Secondly, he regretted leaving her alone. Sure, she was getting a lot better at fighting and using her weapons, but she was still quite inexperienced, and that put her in danger being alone. He should've never left her alone, under any circumstances.

But now wasn't the time for that. He knew Lara would be en route to help Jessop. He wanted to get there first and maybe now that he was alone, he would. He didn't want another innocent death here on his conscious.

 _"Leon! Where are you? Why weren't you with Lara when we regrouped?"_ Roth's voice came from his radio. He sounded tired and a touch angry.

 _'Oh, boy. Here we go,'_ Leon thought with a grimace as he held up his radio.

"We had a spat of sorts at one of our camps. I got mad and stormed off. I'm assuming she pressed on ahead without me because I heard your conversation. I'm closer to Jessop than she probably is, so I'm punching to get there first."

 _"That's not the problem! You shouldn't have left, Leon. What if Lara got captured while you were off fuming somewhere? Or worse, killed? She's not as experienced with this sort of situation as you are or I am."_

"But she's experienced enough at this point to survive. I know she's not like your typical live-day-to-day person. She's not stupid. She knows how to get out of a sticky situation. She can do this, Roth. You said it yourself. So have a little faith in her."

 _"You're every bit as stubborn as she is...or maybe vice versa. Just stay alive long enough to regroup with her at the pilot's location. And this time, do NOT separate again. It's not safe wandering this place alone."_

"Understood. Tell Lara I'll meet her at Jessop's location. I gotta get moving."

Leon happened upon another cliffside village. Scaling down the rocky walls, he heard more Solarii talking as he reached the bottom.

"This hut looks clear."

"We ain't gonna find anyone up here."

 _'You're about to be surprised,'_ Leon thought to himself.

"You're probably right but we got orders."

"I'm gonna head down and join the others at the plane. You keep checking these ruins."

"Not likely," Leon muttered as he shot the guard who'd started making his way down from the ruins. When his friend came to investigate, Leon shot him, too.

As he went to press onward, Reyes suddenly came through the radio.

 _"Anyone out there? Roth?"_

Roth radioed back in seconds.

 _"I'm here, Reyes. What's your situation?"_

 _"We followed a group of men to some kind of...city. This place is insane, Roth. What the hell are they doing here?"_

 _'Good question, Reyes,'_ Leon thought briefly.

 _"I don't know, and I don't think I want to know. Any sign of Sam or Whitman?"_

 _"Nothing yet. Are you with Lara and Leon?"_

 _"Yes...we'll be heading down the mountain soon to meet up with you."_

 _"Okay...we'll try to get in a bit closer. Keep this channel open."_

Then the conversation from the radio ceased. It was clear what Roth was implying, and he was sure Lara heard as well. At least they had a next destination.

Leon jumped, climbed, and slid his way across the village to the path that should take him where he was aiming to go. Glancing up to look around after he reached a hut overlooking the rest of the village, he realized the blue smoke was very close by now.

"There's the signal." Quickly, he climbed along the cliffside with his axe.

 _'Please let either me or Lara reach this one in time.'_

 **AN: New chapter! I'm honestly not too sure about this one. I did my best so I hope it's okay at least.**

 **BTW, so there's no confusion, I wanna clarify that Leon and Lara ARE in two different "cliffside villages". Let's just assume there's a few different ones on Yamatai and he's in one a good several miles from where Lara meets up with Roth after the crash. So yeah.**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: The race to save Jessop from imminent danger continues.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	14. The Guardians

Chapter 11: The Guardians

As Leon was nearing the smoke, a female scream drew his attention away from his desired destination. He knew the startled cry of fear.

"Lara."

Following her scream, he scaled down the cliff he had been approaching in time to see her fall from a makeshift climbing rope, the violent winds pulling the opposite post free from the ground.

"Lara!" he yelled, running over and looking down where she'd fallen. However, he was relieved to see she hadn't fallen far before digging her axe into the cliff both to stop the fall and then climb back up. When she was close enough, he held out his hand to her. She grabbed hold and he pulled her up the rest of the way.

"You alright?"

"Yes. Bit of an adrenaline rush there, but I'm not hurt."

"Good. Look. The pilot's signal."

She nodded and they pressed on up the path.

"Captain Jessop?!" she called.

"Where could he have gone so quick? I hope we aren't too late," Leon muttered.

They pressed on through the small valley beyond the gate. As they reached the bottom of a slope, Alex radioed in.

 _"Hey Lara. Roth told us about the plane. Don't worry, there's gotta be another way off this rock, right?"_

"I hope so. Any sign of Sam?" she replied.

 _"We've tracked her to some old Japanese palace."_

 _'I wonder if it's the same place Reyes mentioned to Roth earlier,'_ Leon thought as he focused back on the conversation.

"I don't like the sound of that," Lara commented. Leon didn't either.

 _"Hey, don't worry. She's probably...just, uh...sightseeing."_

Leon rolled his eyes behind Lara. This was not a place to be sightseeing. But he understood Alex was trying to ease her worries. Lara, however, saw right through it.

"You're a terrible liar, Alex." Leon snickered, biting back full-on laughter.

"You have to be careful in there. Good luck," Lara added before the transmission ended.

Entering a tunnel, they set up another base camp before stumbling upon some ruins, which pre-dated the Kofun period, according to Lara. The next room held a pilgrimage, presumably in coordination with the ruins they had just left behind them.

They then found themselves before a large, old Japanese castle-like structure.

"Incredible," Lara whispered in awe. It was Leon, however, that noticed the figure on the steps.

"Captain Jessop?" he called to the figure. Lara then noticed him, too.

Halfway across the bridge, they quickly noticed something was very wrong. The pilot gurgled inhumanly, reaching for them.

"Oh my God," Lara gasped. Leon's hand went to his gun, just in case.

Suddenly, several fuel canisters came flying down and landed in-between them and the pilot, bursting open and spilling their contents on impact. Leon then noticed a Solarii with a bow and a flaming arrow. Realizing their situation, he seized Lara's arm and quickly backtracked as the man loosed the arrow, lighting the fuel and blowing up the bridge.

The force of the explosion sent the two of them flying. When they got their bearings, they looked up at the large building. There, standing in the doorway, was none other than Father Mathias.

"For a couple of children, you two have caused me a great deal of trouble. But you're just as naive and predictable. Kill them!"

Quickly looking over their shoulders, they realized more Solarii had surrounded them from behind.

"Ah, shit!" Leon cursed as he scrambled to his feet. Lara remained frozen on the ground.

Leon went for his weapon, but the Solarii were quicker. In seconds, both he and Lara were unconscious.

"The Oni! They're here! The guardians are here!" was the first thing Leon heard upon drifting awake, accompanied by deep growling.

 _'Guardians?'_ was the only conscious thought Leon could process.

Something was spoken in Japanese, along with another cry of, "Need help here!"

"Come on, get up! Pull! Pull!"

Screams of fear and pain reverberated in his head as he tried to regain consciousness, but his nasty concussion was preventing his thought process from putting two and two together.

A Solarii fell inches from him and was stabbed through, followed by more Japanese. Then, everything went black again.

When he awoke again, he was alone, and once again, tied up and hanging from the ceiling.

"Really?" he grumbled. "Least I'm not upside down this time."

Glancing up, he saw the metal he was tied to looked like it would cut his bindings for him. Swinging to gain momentum, he wrapped his legs around the beam and pulled his arms downward as hard as he could. The binds snapped and he plummeted to the floor, jarring his aching head in the process. He groaned, curling into a fetal position for a moment and holding his head before staggering to his feet.

It was then he realized Captain Jessop's body laid at his feet.

"Jesus. What's happening here?" he wondered.

A snarl snapped his attention to a blocked door where a huge, lurking figure was stalking by. He made his way across the chamber to a gaping hole in the nearby wall. He barely got inside before one of those things entered. He pressed against the wall as it walked past. Pausing to examine the hole, it continued on, apparently not seeing Leon inside.

He continued down the tunnel and slid down a slope that landed him somewhat back outside. As he stood, he realized the winds were much stronger now. Shielding his face with his arm, he pressed onward up some stairs further into the storm. Bodies of the deceased lined the walls, pinned up like paintings or _trophies_.

He walked on until he came across a blockade. Thinking of how he would get through, he noticed the body on the ground next to him held a trench shotgun.

"Hope this still works," he commented to himself as he gingerly took it from the body's hands.

However, as he shot and unblocked the path, he heard the voices of more Solarii.

"Over here!"

"Either the agent or the girl is here somewhere. I heard something below."

"Damn right you did," Leon growled lowly.

"The Guardians will kill them."

"Let's get the fuck out of here before they find us!"

"They're looking for me and Lara...and again with the Guardians. Who are the Guardians?" Leon wondered aloud.

He climbed over a wall into a different room. He then became aware that he wasn't alone.

"I hate tombs," a feminine voice said from not too far away.

"Lara?" Leon called. "Is that you?"

Lara then came around a corner into his view.

"Leon! You're alright," she cried in relief, walking over to embrace him. Leon stiffened a bit at the contact, but returned the hug anyway.

"For the most part anyway. You hurt at all?"

"Irritated some old injuries during my escape, but nothing new."

"Good."

Lara then spotted the large statue behind him. Taking notice of her changed expression, Leon turned and saw it, too.

"A Sun Queen and her Stormguard," Lara commented as she and Leon approached it. She then observed the carvings on the large stone tomb.

"Himiko! The first Sun Queen! This _is_ Yamatai!" she gasped.

Together, they pushed the tomb's lid open, revealing Himiko's remains.

"You're really here," Lara breathed. The stench hit them and they coughed for a moment.

"And...really, _really_ dead," Leon gasped through his gagging.

"This is incredible!" Lara said, looking around at the paintings in the tomb.

Leon lit the torch and walked over to one depicting a woman on fire.

"Looks like some kind of fire ritual," he commented. "No, more like a _sacrificial_ ritual."

"Horrible," Lara muttered. Leon nodded in agreement.

"But why were the women burnt like that?" Lara questioned.

"Who knows? Given the time period Himiko was said to reign, many practices took place that society has since deemed evil," Leon replied.

They turned to the painting next to it.

"A journey, a pilgrimage to...is that this monastery?" Lara wondered.

Leon wandered to another painting just a few feet away.

"Pouring...water? But why?" he asked himself then turned to the other one.

"And there you are, Queen." After a moment of study, something clicked.

"Wait a minute." He turned to Lara, who had joined him at these two paintings.

"It's not pouring water. It's transferring something. Possibly power," he told her.

"This is an _ascension_ ritual!" Lara realized. "It's how she chose her successor!"

"Could this be what they meant when they mentioned a ritual? So many things don't add up still," Leon questioned.

"Like why do they want Sam?"

Leon then realized something else. "Oh, God. Didn't she say Himiko was her ancestor?"

Lara's eyes widened as well. "They intend to put her through the ritual!"

"The Solarii want to put the Sun Queen back into power here. Maybe they believe if they do that, they'll escape this island," Leon theorized.

"We have to stop them!" Lara cried.

"We will, Lara. But first, we need to find Roth and tell him about all this," Leon reasoned and she nodded in response.

 _'What have we gotten ourselves into?'_

 **AN: New chapter! I'm a little late delivering this one and I'm sorry for that. But here it is now.**

 **THE PLOT THIC** **KENS! Man, I'm finally building up to the climax now! I hope I convey things well enough from here on end. Might get tricky.**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: The race to save Sam begins!**

 **Stay tuned!**


	15. A Friend In Need

Chapter 12: A Friend In Need

"There!"

The sudden shout in the stillness of the tomb snapped the two companions attention upwards where a few Solarii had found them.

"Oh no!" Lara groaned.

"Take them!"

"Like hell you will," Leon growled.

He grabbed the trench shotgun and with seven quick shots, the Solarii men lay dead strewn around the tomb.

"What the hell is going on down there?" they heard from above them. At first, Leon wondered if he meant in the tomb, then a familiar deep growling made his blood run cold. The memories of the men being attacked and killed by _something_ rushing through his pounding head.

"What? What the hell is that thing?" Lara asked softly as the monster's shadow loomed over them briefly before supposedly going after the remaining Solarii.

"I remember when Mathias ordered us to be killed where we first found Jessop. I regained consciousness after we were knocked out long enough to see the Solarii being attacked by something. _Several large somethings_ , actually. I heard someone call them 'the Oni' and then 'the Guardians'. That must be one of the Guardians," Leon replied. "Looks like they'll attack anyone here they don't trust. We better keep our heads down and avoid them like the plague."

They ducked low to inch down an enclosed tunnel. Along the way, they heard more Solarii nearby.

"Hey! I found a way out down here!"

"But the woman and the agent...we gotta find them."

"The Guardians can have them. I'm getting the hell out of here now!"

"Goddamn it...okay...okay wait! Help us open the gate."

A moaning echoed off the walls, followed by, "Shit...shit...they're here!"

"Hey, hey! What's going on? Come back!"

"Don't leave us, you coward! Come back!"

Leon blasted through the blockage with the trench shotgun after they set up a quick camp and they continued on.

"Be careful, Lara. Looks like the winds have really picked up again," Leon called to her. She nodded in acknowledgement. They had barely gotten out onto the planks when the winds ripped away what was left, leaving them scrambling onto the thin ledge against the wall.

"Son of a bitch!" Leon cursed over the howling wind. They inched along the ledge with extreme caution. They paused each time the wind brought down more debris. Upon reaching a gap, Leon inched around Lara and jumped first. The very brief encounter brought a small blush to Lara's face. She'd never been _that_ close to a man before.

Leon turned and held out his hand to her. Gathering her bearings, she jumped, reaching for his outstretched hand. Grasping it, he pulled her up when she stumbled on the weak boards. The fallen plank behind them made for a makeshift ladder and they quickly climbed to a more stable part against the wind. Climbing through a hole in the wall of the building, they discovered the Solarii they'd just heard conversing.

"Can't...get this thing...open."

"Forget it. We need to break it with something."

"Look out...they're here!" one said, spotting them creeping closer.

Leon drew his Beretta while Lara grabbed her bow.

"Hey, guys. Don't shoot. Let's be friends," one of them beckoned.

"After everything you and your buddies have done to us here? Not likely!" Leon shouted, shooting the man in the head.

"It's no good, take them out!"

"That's not likely, either!" Leon stated, shooting that man as well. He had had it with these men and was not above killing them. After all, that's all the Solarii had been doing with the people from the Endurance and who knows what other wrecks had unfortunately landed here.

For a tense moment, there was only an exchange of gunfire, then as quickly as it started, it was over. The bodies continued to pile up the longer they remained on the island.

Going to the upper level, Leon realized their way out was through the floor and was currently blocked. Looking up at the bell, he got an idea.

"Lara, we need to drop that bell. That should break open that place in the floor and give us a way through."

After quite a bit of work and utilizing Lara's rope arrow, they destroyed the bell's support beams.

"This place is falling apart!"

"Up there! They're on the second floor!"

"Can't you people give us a break? Oh, of course not. Around here, that's asking way too much!" Leon grumbled. "Lara, keep working on dropping that bell! I'll keep them off your back!"

Leon quickly dispatched the men, one was a bit trickier because of the armor he wore, while Lara used the rope arrow one last time to hit the bell. With the support beams basically nonexistent, one solid hit and the bell went crashing through the floor. The reverberations caused Lara to lose her balance and she went spiraling through the new opening.

"Lara!" Leon called, diving from the upper floor in after her. He ended up next to her, both not seriously hurt.

"You really gotta stop giving people heart attacks, Croft," he joked. Lara managed a breathy laugh before they staggered to their feet.

 _'That was kinda like something Ada would've done. She certainly loves giving people heart attacks,'_ Leon thought to himself before he shook his head, brushing the thought away immediately. _'No. Don't even go there. Lara is NOTHING like Ada. Ada can't even stick around one place very long. Lara doesn't abandon people in need. Lara's certainly more considerate, she's brave if a bit impulsive, she's stubborn, she's beautiful...wait, what?'_ He shook his head again. _'Where the hell did THAT come from?'_

"Leon? You alright?" Lara's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah! Yes, I'm fine." An inhuman roaring cut into the conversation. "But it sounds like we won't be for long if we don't get moving."

"No...no! Ahhh!"

"The Guardians are here!"

"Alright, come on. come on, move it!"

"Get out...move it! Move!"

Leon seized Lara by the arm and pulled them back against the wall, somewhat hidden in the shadows, and they silently watched the Solarii run past with the Guardians right behind them. They quickly realized, though, they had to run as well. Everything was starting to collapse.

"Run, Lara!" Leon yelled as he took off, Lara's arm still grasped in his hand.

They ran, jumped, and dodged falling debris as they sprinted for the exit. As they reached the end, jumping and landing on a bridge, they were far from safe yet as the bridge gave out and they continued their fall. Breaking through another small bridge that didn't even slow them down, they hit a slope and began sliding. Realizing the blockades along the slope, Leon drew the trench shotgun and began firing as they continued their downward slide.

They reached the end of the slope and plummeted into the waiting river. Lara broke the surface first, coughing and gasping for air. As she looked around her new surroundings, she realized Leon hadn't surfaced.

"Leon?" No answer.

"Leon?!" Still silence.

"LEON!" she cried in panic, diving back down under the water in an attempt to search for him. With the water being too dark to see through, she relied on her hands to search for her missing companion.

After a moment of fruitlessly feeling for him, her hands brushed something that felt like clothing. Grabbing it, she pulled it to the surface with some struggle.

"Leon!"

It was him alright. She felt for his pulse. He was alive, just unconscious. With the water taking off a lot of his weight, she pulled him over to the bank. After getting him situated on the bank so that he wouldn't slip off into the water again, she hauled herself up out of the cold water.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she next realized Leon wasn't breathing. Panic setting in again, she began CPR and mouth-to-mouth alternatively.

"Come on, Leon. Breathe. Don't you do this to me, too. Breathe, you bastard. BREATHE!"

He gave a barely audible groan, so she gave him a few extra compressions. On the last one, he coughed, expelling a large amount of water before he started gasping. Rolling over to his side, he alternated gasping for air and coughing out the water he'd swallowed. After a few moments, he calmed down and rolled back onto his back.

"For a minute there, I thought you were genuinely worried about me," he rasped.

"Now's not the time for one of your sarcastic jokes. You nearly gave me a heart attack that time," she cried, slapping his shoulder lightly. She looked like she was about to break down and cry hysterically.

Leon sat up slowly.

"It'll take more than that to get rid of me. You should know that by now better than anyone."

"Doesn't mean you should make a habit of it. One of these days, you won't be so lucky."

"Fair enough. I think I bumped my head when we landed in the river. Good thing you were around otherwise I would've drowned."

"Well again, consider it payback for all the times you've kept me alive through this nightmare."

They glanced at each other and shared a smile. Then, the radio crackled to life and the scared voice of the last person they expected to hear came through.

 _"Hello? Hello?"_

"Sam!" Lara gasped as Leon looked on with disbelieving eyes.

 _"Hello?"_

"Sam, it's Lara!" she cried into the radio.

 _"Oh God, Lara...it's good to hear your voice."_

"Yours too, Sam. Is the rest of the crew with you?"

 _"No, I just managed to steal this radio off a guard."_

"A guard?" Leon asked, joining in on the conversation.

 _"Leon? Oh good, you two are together. I've been kidnapped."_

"What?" Lara wondered.

"Where are you, Sam?" Leon asked her.

 _"I don't know...some old Japanese palace. They keep talking about a 'fire ritual'. Guys, I'm fucking terrified...shit, someone's coming. I've got to hide this thing."_

"Sam," Leon attempted to make her wait. They needed more information.

"Sam!" Lara cried, her worry for Sam coming back tenfold. However, Sam was already gone.

"A fire ritual..." she said as they stood up. "Like the mural in Himiko's tomb."

Leon practically ripped his radio from his belt.

"Roth, are you there?" he asked into the radio.

 _"I'm heading toward the palace. The others are being held there, too,"_ Roth answered.

"Lara and I will catch up with you and we'll all go in together," Leon replied and ended the transmission.

"Leon, through here," Lara called, indicating a tunnel that lead outside.

"Let's go. We don't have much time," Leon said as he lead the way out.

They made a quick camp outside by the bridge before they pressed on.

 _'Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.'_

 **AN: New chapter! I can tell already the climatic chapters are going to be a pain...gonna do my best, though.**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: Leon and Lara regroup with Roth and prepare to assault the palace.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	16. Open Wounds

Chapter 13: Open Wounds

For a few moments after departing their camp, things were quiet. Too quiet for Leon after everything that had happened and was still happening. Utilizing Lara's rope arrows, they crossed the river and were making their way around the cliff when more Solarii voices drifted to their ears.

"Damn. This is the good stuff."

"If you show up to the ceremony drunk, Father Mathias will cut your throat."

"I can hold my liquor as long as you hold your tongue."

"I heard they picked up some women in the round up."

"Yeah, Mathias chose one for the test."

 _'He must mean the fire ritual Sam mentioned,'_ Leon thought to himself.

"Well, maybe she's the one? We might finally get off this rock."

"Don't get excited. It always ends the same way. Some poor girl burns, then it's business as usual."

"Man, I am sick of this damned place. I just want out."

"Listen, brother, we all do. But it's not gonna happen. The storms will never let us leave."

"But what if we-"

"What if nothing! You want outta here? There's a cliff. Go ahead and jump. Now let me finish this bottle in peace."

"Cynical even toward each other," Leon commented lowly. "Okay, Lara. Don't know about you but I'm done hearing their hopeless talk. Ritual or not, none of them are leaving this island alive. Time for you to work your magic with that bow."

She nodded and with three well-aimed arrows, the men lay dead on the rocky ground.

They made their way down the stairs and jumped over to the area where the men lay. Lara made them a zipline and upon reaching the other side, Leon repaid the favor with a well-placed blow from the trench shotgun to the blockage in front of them.

As they were walking through the hut, Sam's voice came from their radios.

 _"Oh God, that was close. Are you guys there?"_

"We're here, Sam. Are you okay?" Lara answered her.

 _"What do they want with me, Lara? A fire ritual? This is so fucked up!"_

"Listen, Leon and I are coming to get you. We're going to get you out of there!"

 _"Please, please help me, Lara."_

"I promise...I promise, Sam."

The moment was short-lived when a guard's voice came through the transmission.

 _"Hey! She took your radio!"_

"No," Leon breathed quietly as they listened helplessly.

 _"Oh no!"_

"Sam? Sam?!" Lara cried into the radio, worry etching her tone and expression.

 _"Aaah! Aaah! Help me! Please!"_

"Stay away from her, you bastards! Stay away!" Lara was screaming at this point.

 _"No! No!"_

The radio then said no more.

"Fuck!" Lara gasped, pacing anxiously.

Leon seized her by the arm, effectively stopping her pacing.

"Lara, look at me. Look at me!"

Lara paused, looking up at him as he asked.

"This is far from over. Understand? We will get there and we _will_ save her. And then, once everyone is safe, we'll make sure these psychotic bastards get _everything_ coming to them. Alright? Now is not the time to panic. Keep a level head and keep moving."

Lara's panicked expression calmed and she nodded with an edge of newfound determination.

They jumped over to the ruins of a neighboring hut and ziplined down to the next structure. They didn't anticipate the off landing and crashed through the roof.

"Whoa! What the hell was that?"

"I don't know..."

There was a gasp, and then, "Whoa, paydirt! The tank's full!"

"Don't let it bleed out, man! That stuff is gold!"

"Damn it...we need something to hold it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold on, let me check!"

One of the men started running toward their current location. Before he could raise the alarm after spotting them, Leon quickly drew his gun and shot the man. Unfortunately, their position was still given away.

"Come outta there!"

"Ha! Really?" Leon questioned their idiocy before holstering his handgun and drawing the trench shotgun. Two blasts later, the men were as dead as their other comrades.

"I'll go deal with any other stragglers. Whatever they wanted this for, see if you can blow it up," Leon said to Lara before descending the stairs around the other side.

After they cleaned up, they kept their pace, hoping they wouldn't be too late again at the end of all this. They encountered more men than they had originally anticipated, but it didn't slow them down at all. After taking out the men, they reached a raging river.

"No way around. We've got to cross," Lara stated.

Leon wasn't sure it was safe, but Lara had a point. There was no way around.

Lara went first, hopping through the rapids from post to post with Leon right behind her. The third one she reached, however, came loose, and Lara went careening down the river.

"Lara!" Leon yelled, immediately diving into the rapids after her. He caught up to her quickly, hoisting her up onto his shoulder, but was unable to swim back as the currents were far too strong even for him.

For several long, tense moments, they flew down the river on the white water rapids, avoiding being impaled on sharp, pointed object or being rammed headlong into blockades. Finally, they stopped briefly after being rammed almost completely through the wreckage of a plane body.

The currents, on the other hand, weren't through yet, and the wreck twisted and turned before stopping again. Lara was against the windshield of the plane that was beginning to crack under her weight, and Leon was a few feet above her, reaching carefully for the parachute. He snatched it and slipped it on before quickly grasping Lara's outstretched hand as the glass gave out under her and they plummeted downward.

Pulling the first release cord, the parachute detached itself, leaving them still freefalling through the air. Leon frantically grabbed the other cord, which released the backup parachute which, thankfully for them, was still attached in the bag.

They then went from freefalling to freeflying as Leon swerved viciously to avoid the multiple trees they were rapidly descending through.

The badly fraying straps then snapped, and they went crashing violently through the trees, hitting multiple branches on their way down. They both hit the ground hard, leaving them stunned and dazed, especially Lara, who was holding her side and gasping both for air and in pain. Leon noticed as they staggered to their feet.

"Lara, you alright?"

She tried to nod, but ended up collapsing against a tree, stepping forward, and tripping on a root. Leon gently took her arm and pulled her back to her feet. That was when he saw, for the first time, the small stab wound in her left side. It didn't appear to be from a knife, but it still looked painful.

"Lara, what happened to your side?"

"It was the night we were shipwrecked here. As I got myself loose, I fell and landed on a thin piece of metal. It went almost completely through my side but stopped only about halfway."

Leon cringed. It _sounded_ painful just hearing about it.

He happened to glance up and saw where they had ended up.

"Lara, look. We're here."

Sure enough, looking up, they saw the old Japanese palace and city everyone had been describing.

"Let's go. Roth has to already be here somewhere," Lara gasped in pain.

They wandered into the clutter of storage containment units, albeit slowly due to Lara's irritated side injury. Leon spotted a rescue helicopter among the many units.

 _'Might be a first-aid kit in there,'_ he thought as he held Lara up by the arm. He got a better idea on how to travel while she was in this condition.

"Lara, hop up on my back. We can move around faster that way. You'll be in charge of keeping guards off our backs, though."

She nodded and he knelt down in front of her. Getting situated, she gave a little hop and he hauled himself to stand with her on his back. At first, as he studied the area of their current location, he thought they were at a dead end.

"Leon, there," Lara gasped, pointing to a small opening that looked like a flooded tunnel. Nodding, he went to it and eased them inside, not once letting go of Lara.

"Ugh! The smell!" Lara groaned while Leon bit back a gag. Indeed, the smell here was absolutely _putrid_. He waded through the area quickly, wanting to get them out before one or both of them puked.

"Where's the old man?" a voice said from, presumably, somewhere above them.

"I don't know what you're talking about...please..."

"You are lying. I know you escaped with him."

"Please...I...don't..." there was coughing, then, "I...don't..."

"Maybe I need to loosen your tongue."

"Aah! Aagh!" There was a choking sound.

"Tell me! Tell me where he is!"

The only response was the gurgling of the prisoner choking on his blood. A few moments later, the body dropped to their area, not far from them. It appeared his tongue was cut out.

"Jesus Christ," Leon mumbled, picking up his pace to get them back outside.

When they did reach the outside, more men were talking. About how the Somalian lost his temper, again, and the "old man" was still missing. He was tough, but he wouldn't get far. That the others were in the caves and were only being kept alive because of "the girl".

Not bothering to listen, Leon had Lara get rid of them. They shot and climbed their way up to the helicopter. Upon reaching it, Leon put Lara down and she pulled the back open with her rope arrows. Going inside, Leon ripped open the medical box. To his dismay, there was nothing in it that could help Lara.

"Shit!" he yelled, punching the wall beside it.

Looking around, he saw that Lara had joined him in the helicopter was rifling through the crates. It seemed there was nothing in the ruined chopper period that would help.

Then, she went to the front where the dead pilot was still strapped in.

"Sorry.." she panted and searched his pockets. A moment later, she pulled away with a Zippo lighter in her hand.

Leon helped her sit down and lean against the wall, holding her by the shoulders. He knew what she intended to do and it would be extremely painful, moreso than stitches. She readied an arrow and took a few deep breaths to brace herself, or attempt to at least.

Then, she thrust the heated arrowhead into her side wound, Leon swiftly covering her mouth with his free hand, gritting his teeth as he listened to her muffled cries. After a moment, he pulled his hand away. She cried and gasped for a few more moments with him removing the hand from her shoulders to rub her back soothingly. Soon enough, she calmed down.

They left the chopper with the lighter now attached to Lara's bow, giving them the use of "fire arrows". Seeing a nearby building on fire, she reached for her radio.

"Roth, can you hear me?"

Silence from the radio.

"Roth?" Leon tried. This time, Roth answered.

 _"Lara! Leon! Are you both okay?"_

Leon studied her for a moment. She nodded to him and answered Roth as well.

"We're fine."

 _"You don't sound fine to me."_

"We're fine for the most part, Roth," Leon replied this time.

 _"Where are you two?"_

"We're in some kind of shanty town, near the fortified palace."

 _"I'm still coming down the hill. How did you get there so fast?"_

"Long story."

 _"I can see the town from here. Are you and Leon near that large gate?"_

"We're heading towards it."

"It's the outsiders!" a Solarii suddenly shouted.

"Ah, shit!" Leon growled.

"There!"

"Fire! Fire!"

From there, it was a massive fire fight, with Lara trading fire back and forth with the Solarii, forcing them back so she and Leon could press on to the palace.

When the last man had fallen, they zigzagged in and out of the multiple buildings, trying to find the right direction. Finally, they found the right way and headed toward the compound.

 _'I hope we didn't waste too much time out here...'_

 **AN: New chapter! I watched TWO walkthrough videos for this one. Consider it an apology for my tardiness posting a new chapter. Plus, my timing in this was a tad off, so what I intended to do with this chapter will end being in the next one. Ugh, what a pain.**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: The rescue mission begins!**

 **Stay tuned!**


	17. The Descent

Chapter 14: The Descent

"Be careful, Lara. The gate may be right there, but this is way too easy. I know something's about to happen," Leon cautioned her.

Sure enough, as they got close to the gate, it slammed shut and more Solarii ambushed them.

"Move in! Move in!"

"How many more of you have to die before you realize you can't stop us?" Leon snarled under his breath.

"They're trapped!"

"Surround them! There's nowhere for them to go!"

In his mind, Leon sweatdropped. _'Are they serious? Either these ones are complete idiots or they think we are. Does it really look like we're "trapped"?'_

Lara switched between her machine gun and the fire arrows with her bow as the fight went on while Leon juggled the trench shotgun with his Beretta. Lara took care of the longer range enemies while Leon kept any close range ambushers off their backs.

After they dealt with all the guards, Lara set the beam holding the gate in place on fire, then Leon used his axe to crank it open.

Past the gate, they set up a quick base camp and took a brief breather before pressing on toward the palace.

"Stop the old man! He's getting away!"

Looking up where the shouts came from, they saw two Solarii in the distance chasing something.

"What's going on?" Lara questioned softly.

"From the sounds of it, escaped prisoners. We should rescue any we happen to come across," Leon replied.

They waded through the water to some steps. As they crossed through the threshold, an old man's voice reached their ears that made their blood freeze.

"Get yer hands off me, ya bloody bastards!"

"Oh my God, Grim!" Lara gasped.

"Hurry! We gotta help him!" Leon urged, taking off in a sprint in the direction of Grim's voice with Lara right on his heels.

They found him singlehandedly fighting off some Solarii goons. When he had them beaten down, he called out upon seeing them.

"Lara! Leon! Up here!"

"Grim, you escaped!" Lara cried in relief.

"Not gonna ask how, but it's good to see you're alright, Grim," Leon called.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get your arses up here!"

Leon chuckled as Lara started up the ladder with him just behind her. They hadn't gotten far up when Grim called again, this time in warning.

"Watch it, you two! You've got company!" At that same moment, a Solarii yelled, "Light them up!"

Leon seized Lara around the waist and pulled her down from the ladder as they narrowly dodged a bundle of dynamite.

"They got fuckin' dynamite...take cover!" Grim yelled.

 _'Yes, we noticed, Grim,'_ Leon thought as he drew his Beretta.

"You morons just don't know when to quit."

"Outsiders, give it up!"

"Not a chance, you bastards," Lara growled. She had her bow ready.

Lara took out the men on the lower level of the neighboring structure while Leon kept others from sounding the alarm. Things got heavier when the men started coming to them. From there, Leon holstered his gun and went at the men hand-to-hand melee style while Lara tried to pick off the men still trying to come to them. The less Leon had to fight, the easier it would be for him.

As Leon snapped the last man's neck, Grim came down what was left of the ladder.

"Lara, Leon, you're both alive!"

"Just barely, anyway," Leon remarked.

"Where are the others?" Lara called.

"Still locked up inside...but I know where they are. Get up here and we'll get em out together."

"We can't climb up there from here," Lara revealed.

"The dynamite blew apart the bottom section of the ladder," Leon added.

"Ahh, damn it! Well, they got some kinda setup for hauling cargo. Maybe you can use it to come around the other side?"

"Alright, we're on our way," Lara replied.

"Be careful, Grim. Try to stay out of trouble til we regroup," Leon called to him.

They backtracked and for the better part of a half hour, they climbed up and across multiple cargo riggings.

"After all this is said and done, I won't need to work out for at least a couple months," Leon remarked as they neared their location.

Blasting their way through another wave of Solarii attempting to stop them, they next used the crate transport above them as a makeshift cable car.

As they were nearing their get-off, Lara called out for Grim.

"Grim? Are you there?"

No answer at first, then they saw him running into view.

"It's a trap, lass! Show em your teeth, both of ya! Give em hell!"

A Solarii grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Oh no..."

"Grim! Shit...well the least we can do is do what he said and give these assholes hell," Leon commented as he drew his Beretta and began firing. Lara grabbed her bow, doing the same.

After all the men were dead, another came out holding his machete to Grim's throat. Leon and Lara trained their weapons on him in case he did something stupid to Grim.

"Drop your weapons! Or we kill your friend!" he yelled to them.

"Don't fuckin' do it!" Grim called.

The man gave him a threatening cut.

"Okay! Okay, okay," Lara yelled, lowering her bow to the ground. Leon lowered his gun close to the holster, but didn't actually put it away.

"That's nothing, pal. I grew up in Glasgow," Grim growled.

"Now kick them off the edge! You, agent! Put the gun down now or he dies!"

"Leon, please!" Lara pleaded, close to tears. Leon, however, was focused solely on Grim. Something was about to go very wrong. He just knew it.

Sure enough, Grim suddenly reared back and headbutted the man in the nose, making him release his grip. Taking the machete, Grim split another man's skull open. He tackled the third against a large plate of metal and headbutted him as well. Unfortunately, the sheet came loose with the two still leaning against it and it threw off their balance. They watched helplessly as Grim and the Solarii went tumbling off the structure into the mist below.

"Grim! No!" Lara screamed. Leon could only follow them with his eyes in shock. Yet another innocent he could've saved, lost to the island.

"No...Grim..." he mumbled. Then, his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white and he snarled like a feral, wild animal.

"These motherfuckers will pay for this! Mathias especially!" he growled hotly.

For a moment, Lara was afraid of him. She'd never seen him this angry and it was quite terrifying. Cautiously, she approached him and carefully placed her hand on his shoulder. Tugging lightly, she turned him around to face her.

"Leon, I know you feel like you're failing, but you're doing all you can just as I am," she told him in a gentle tone. "I know you're trying to be strong, but deep down, you're as scared as the rest of us. This place is enough to unnerve even the strongest of men. I know that every life you haven't been able to save is hard for you, but there are others who still need our help. Focus on them, the ones that we will save for certain."

Leon's angry expression gradually softened into a neutral, determined one. Taking a few deep breaths, he forced himself to calm down. She was right. The others were still depending on them to help.

"The palace...we've got to get to the palace," he finally muttered. He carefully pulled away from her and walked past.

They climbed over to the rigging where Grim had fallen and began to cross over to the cliffside. They had barely started when two more men came seemingly out of nowhere.

"There they are! Cut the line!"

One went about cutting the rope while the other was firing arrows at them. They got near the cliff when the rope gave way. Thankfully, they were close enough they were able to dig their axes into the cliff. An arrow narrowly missed piercing Lara's side, fueling Leon's anger even more.

"I got them!" yelled the one with the bow. As he went to take the shot, he was shot himself, the other man following soon after. For a moment, in their adrenaline induced haze, they were confused, until Roth's voice patched through.

 _"I got you both covered. You're clear to climb up."_

"Thank God," Lara breathed as they hauled themselves up.

Leon looked around and spotted the flash of the scope on Roth's rifle. He was holed up in a shack just across them on the opposite cliff.

"Lara, over there," he told her in an emotionless voice, pointing out where Roth was.

Lara grabbed her radio.

"Roth."

"Yeah?"

"Grim's...dead. They tried to use him as leverage to make me and Leon surrender but he wouldn't let them."

"Grim, you...you stubborn bastard."

"I'm so sorry, Roth."

"No...Don't be sorry, Lara. You neither, Leon, because I know you're listening, too." This made Leon raise his head and look toward Roth's location. "Just make it count. We'll raise a glass to the old man when we get out of here."

Lara looked toward the palace.

"We're going to try and get closer." She looked at Leon as she said this. She would have to take the reins for now since Leon wasn't in the best position to make the calls. He merely nodded in response.

"Can you cover us again?" she said to Roth.

"Yeah. I've got a clear sight with my rifle until the palace wall."

"Okay," Lara replied with a small nod.

They walked the other way, going higher up on the structure they currently stood on when a transmission came through the radio that made Leon's blood go cold.

 _"Rescue chopper N888RC responding to SOS, inbound from freighter Trinity."_

The color drained from his face. Had someone else called for help?

 _'No, no, NO! They can't come here! They'll end up like the others! This can't be happening!'_

His fears were confirmed when Roth responded to the transmission.

 _"This is Conrad Roth of the Endurance. Do you copy?!"_

 _'No, Roth! NO!'_

 _"Lara, Leon, did you hear that? A rescue helicopter is inbound!"_

"That's great news, Roth! Set up a signal. I'm going in for Sam and the others," Lara replied, missing Leon's look of disbelief.

 _"But, Lara, maybe I should-"_

"This isn't like the pilot, Roth. I got Sam and the others into this mess, I'm getting them out."

"NO!" Leon exploded. How was this good news?! How could Lara still want to go through with this?! The storms wouldn't let them leave and all they were accomplishing was bring the island more victims!

Leon snatched the radio from Lara, nearly screaming into it to Roth.

"Roth, how the hell is this a good thing?! You saw what happened to the plane! A helicopter will be no different and all we're doing is stranding more innocent people on this damned island to die! Hasn't there already been enough death?! Wasn't losing Grim the last straw?! I will NOT sit on the sidelines and watch more people be slaughtered like pigs here!"

Leon was panting by the end of it while Lara looked on in shock. Leon was truly reaching his limits by this point and she hadn't truly realized before this moment how much this nightmare had really been affecting him. It seemed like losing Grim had in fact been the last straw for him.

Roth was silent for several moments and Lara wondered if the transmission had been cut at some point to where Roth hadn't heard Leon at all. But after another tense moment of silence, Roth spoke again.

 _"Leon, I understand how this must be for you. Trust me, I don't like the possibility of this failing again, either. But if we don't at least try, then all of us will end up dead as well. I don't want anyone else to die anymore than you do, but they will the longer we spend on this godforsaken island. I know the possibility, but for the sake of those still alive, we've got to try."_

Leon wasn't at all pleased with Roth's response, but he did sort of understand. Clenching his fist around the radio, he handed it back to Lara and stepped outside facing the palace bridge. The anger and frustration inside him was burning furiously like a fire. He felt as though it wouldn't get better unless he went on a spree, just slaughtering these men like the animals they were just like they'd done to their people.

 _'These motherless, poxy bastards WILL PAY!'_

After setting up a camp and quickly fixing up her weapons, Lara joined him outside. He was still steaming, it was obvious to her. She'd have to give him space for a while.

Leon didn't glance at her, just nodded forward.

"Let's get this over with."

The growl in his voice was apparent as well, Lara noted with a wince. He'd been like this since the moment they lost Grim. She hoped whatever it was, it would pass quickly.

They crossed the bridge with caution, jumping a broad gap before getting completely across when Roth radioed in again.

 _"Alright, you two. That bridge is swarming with guards."_

"Great...any ideas?" Lara asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We charge through and cut them down as we go. They'll just try to stop us anyway," Leon replied emotionlessly.

 _"Leon, don't get reckless. Now it'll be tricky, but you both can probably make your way across underneath."_

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Lara groaned.

 _"Don't worry. I'll be covering you two the whole way."_

They climbed through a different structure to get to the underside of the bridge. Roth radioed them as they were approaching.

 _"Lara, Leon, I've got them in my sights."_

"Here goes," Lara muttered as she jumped.

She and Leon listened to the men as they crept along the underside of the bridge.

"What the hell is going on down there? You think they got the outsiders?"

"Don't worry. If they didn't, then they'll come to us."

"Father Mathias will send us to the Oni if we don't find them."

"Only if we fail. And we won't. The Sun Queen is with us."

 _'Himiko? No way she'd help these mindless, heartless murderers,'_ Leon thought bitterly.

As they came upon a gap in bridge exposing the lower level to the upper, a guard spotted them. Lara gasped.

"What the-" was as far as the guard got before Roth nailed him.

He fell through both sections of the bridge, causing the thing to become very unstable.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, what was that?! Who's shooting?"

"Sniper! Take cover!"

Roth's voice radioed in to check on them as shouts of panic and confusion roared above them from the men.

"I thought I might've lost you both. Are you OK?"

"Yeah, Roth. That was a bit too close for comfort, though," Leon answered since Lara was a bit busy.

They reached a bigger gap in the bridge when Roth made them stop.

 _"Stop! They'll see you! Wait..."_ A shot sent one man toppling off the bridge, then, _"Go now!"_

Roth's voice continued to instruct them on when to go and when to wait as they inched along the side of the bridge.

 _"Lara, I think you and Leon are clear."_

They pulled themselves up onto the bridge.

"Thanks for the cover. I guess that makes us even," Lara told him.

Not realizing it, Roth's warning came too late as a hidden Solarii came up behind them and wrapped his arm around Lara's neck, hauling her to her feet.

"Ahh! Let go!" she cried as she struggled vainly to get away.

"I'll break this girl's neck! Surrender!" he called out to Roth.

In that moment, something deep inside Leon snapped. Everything turned red as a primal instinct surged forth so fierce he lost awareness in the next moment. Lara, and Roth too from his position, watched the moment in shock and horror as Leon got behind the man, bit into the side of his neck, and ripped out his jugular. The man gurgled on his own blood and released Lara. Once Lara had moved out of the way, Leon threw the man to the ground, ripped his knife from the sheath, and viciously stabbed the man over and over. He continued stabbing the corpse even after the man was dead.

 _"Leon! Leon, stop! The man's dead!"_ Roth radioed him, but Leon remained unresponsive as he continued slashing blindly at the man's corpse.

With a sob-choked scream, Lara grabbed Leon's arm and yanked as hard as she could, effectively pulling Leon away from the corpse.

Leon jolted as he landed, blinking slowly as he coughed and gasped, spitting out the mouthful of blood. For a few moments, Leon didn't speak, just coughed and gasped for air like a fish out of water. Finally, he calmed down enough and he raised his head. His gaze found the unrecognizable corpse and his heart stopped.

 _'My God...did I do that to him?'_

He then realized Roth was trying to get his attention. Slowly, he grabbed the radio off his belt and held it up.

"I-I'm here, Roth."

 _"Leon...what the hell happened there? You went completely ballistic."_

"So I did do this...I...Something in me snapped, Roth. The way he grabbed Lara...after everything that's happened...all the people I've watched die...I couldn't...I...couldn't..."

He didn't finish his sentence as he started shaking. His current expression was one Lara had not yet seen in such a strong-willed person such as him.

 _Fear. Complete, utter fear._

"Leon..." She took a couple steps toward him, which made him scramble to his feet and back away from her.

"No! Don't come near me right now, Lara! Please...I don't wanna accidentally hurt you..."

 _"Leon, whatever just happened, you've snapped out of it and you're thinking straight now. Lara could get far in the palace, but she's still not going to be able to pull this off alone. Do what you have to do to shake this off and get yourself refocused."_

Something in Roth's voice brought him back around and he steeled himself with a deep breath. He turned to Lara and, looking her dead in the eye, said.

"No more innocent lives will be lost here so long as I'm still breathing. No one else in our group will die. I'll make damn sure of it."

"They're still alive! Jesus Christ, look what the agent did to our man! You fucking animal!"

Then more bullets began raining down.

 _"Lara! Leon! There's too many of them! Get out of there!"_

The structures beneath them began to collapse. Leon saw a pathway along the cliff, a possible alternate route.

"Lara! This way!"

Together, they slid, hopped, and ran along the path, avoiding the gunfire. Climbing up a small cliff on the other side, they arrived at a tunnel that appeared to lead inside the palace.

"Roth, we're heading in," Lara told him as they went inside, Leon lighting their torch.

 _"Are you sure about this, Lara?"_

"We'll get them. We'll come back. I promise."

Inside, they waded through a tunnel so flooded it was up to their chins. With the other sides already lit with torches, Leon put theirs out.

As they entered a cavern and were ascending some stairs, something reached their ears from just ahead of them that sound like...

"Chanting?" Leon questioned quietly.

They rounded the corner at the top just as a very familiar voice began speaking.

"My brothers, listen to me now."

"Mathias," Leon snarled.

"Out in the world, we were nothing. But here...here, we are the Solarii, the Sun Queen's children."

"Oh, please." By now, they were pressed against the wall just outside the ritual chamber.

"She brought us here for a reason. I know you want your freedom. I know you want to escape this place. But to do so, we must release our Queen. Like us, she is a prisoner. If we can free her, we free ourselves. This girl...she carries the blood of this land. She could be the key."

Looking up, they saw Sam tied to a large post with flammables surrounding it.

"Sam!" Lara gasped.

"They're about to do the ritual," Leon remarked.

"The Ritual of Flames will show us the truth! Himiko, you are the first and the last. Speak to us now!"

Lara stepped away and raised her bow to the man about to light the pyre.

"Lara, wait! No!" Leon hissed, reaching toward her.

But he was too late. Lara shot down the man and gave away their position.

"Shit!" Leon groaned as they swarmed the two of them and overpowered them.

"You killed our brother!"

Leon wasn't sure if they meant him or Lara, or even which "brother" they were referring to.

They beat him and Lara for a few moments before Mathias ordered them to be brought to him. After stripping them of their weapons, the men picked them up and dragged them over as ordered. They were forced to look up at him as he spoke.

"Every creature in nature will turn and fight when its very survival is at stake. So don't think I don't understand you and your agent friend, girl. I've just been doing this a lot longer."

He stepped away from them then, back to where he had been.

"Ready yourselves, brothers! Our Queen is about to speak! Speak to us! Himiko! Speak to us through the flames!"

"Sam!" Lara cried as she and Leon weakly struggled against their captors.

"No!" Leon half-snarled, half-screamed.

 _'Not again! I swore!'_

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Lara sobbed next to him.

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew into the cavern, putting out the flames.

"What?" Leon rasped. What the hell just happened?

"She...she's the one. Soon, my brothers, we will be reborn!" Turning to Sam, he ordered, "Take her to the throne room."

Looking down at Lara and Leon, he smirked.

"Your fight is over, creatures."

Then, the men pulled them away, out of the cavern to who-knew-where.

They were crossing a stone bridge when Lara collapsed to her knees. As they went to pull her up, she attacked her captors, retrieving her bow in process as Leon did the same and retrieved his gun. The men, however, had them cornered. Not about to surrender, Leon glanced downward before he took Lara's arm. Then, he jumped, pulling Lara down with him into, literally, a huge blood bath.

The men watched for several minutes.

"I can't see the bodies."

"I don't think they survived the fall. Let's get down there. Come on."

They left, and shortly after, Leon and Lara surfaced and got out, setting off down the cavern tunnel.

 _'You're wrong, Mathias. Our fight is just beginning.'_

 **AN: New chapter! I've started watching two walkthrough videos for each new chapter. With the game's climax underway, I'm hoping two videos per chapter will add better content.**

 **Also, I'm sorry if I made Leon OOC this chapter, but the situation was PERFECT for the angle and I wanted to try it. Hope it worked out alright!**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: Our heroes attempt the big escape.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	18. Into The Fire

Chapter 15: Into The Fire

"These are geothermal caverns. It's places like this where natural gases are almost everywhere," Leon stated as they walked, him looking around at their new surroundings. "The others might be down here somewhere, too."

He was so lost in thought that Lara's sudden coughing jarred him back to reality. In front of them, in a tunnel blocking their path, was a plume of the natural gas he had just been talking about.

"Probably flammable," Lara commented, backing away so she could breathe.

"No! Don't waste your arrows. We only have one weapon each at the moment. We'll have to just run through it."

Taking a deep breath and holding it, Leon quickly dashed through the plume, coming out on the other side in good overall health.

"Come on, Lara! It's just a quick sprint through there!" he called. A moment of pause, then she was at his side.

They set up a camp and Lara jotted down another journal entry. She spoke as she wrote it.

"Madness. That's what this place is. Mathias thinks Himiko's spirit is keeping us here."

Leon tuned out, receding into the swirling storm of his own mind. The bridge incident was still fresh in his mind and gnawing at him furiously. What had happened? What had made him snap like that? He'd ripped a man's jugular out with his own teeth for God's sake! His mind started weeding out all possible theories until...

 _'The Las Plagas,'_ he realized with horror. Of course, it was determined that he and Ashley had gotten rid of their parasites back in Spain. However, that didn't mean there would never be side effects. Was that it? Could that be what was causing his out of control anger? Sure, Grim's death had really set him off and his experiences in this place weren't helping at all, but never had there been repercussions like this.

Meanwhile, Lara had stood and was starting to continue onwards when she saw Leon hadn't moved to follow. He appeared lost in thought, no doubt about what happened on the bridge. She was starting to worry for her companion. He admitted not too long ago that he was troubled by his own past nightmarish experiences, but now he seemed more withdrawn than he was in the beginning. Something about the man on the bridge had set him off in a way not even he was sure he could handle.

 _'Something else had to have happened to him before all of this,'_ she thought.

"Leon? We need to get moving again," she called to him, which roused him from his thoughts and he nodded mutely in response.

 _'She can't know about my Las Plagas infection. Not yet, anyway.'_

Crawling through a large opening in the wall, a scared voice caught their attention. They cautiously approached where it was coming from as they listened.

"Wait, wait...what do you want me to do? Please!"

A door opened and someone was thrown into the room.

"Don't struggle too much and hope they kill you fast," another voice sneered with a laugh.

"Oh God, no...this is horrible," Lara breathed as more figures entered the room. Leon said nothing and watched.

"Please...who are you? What...what are you doing? No! No! Oh God...please! Aghh!"

Unable to watch anymore, Lara ignited the gas near them and they scattered like rats. Going down to the room and down the tunnel near the gas vent Lara blew up, they discovered makeshift holding cells for some of the prisoners, many of whom had by now gone mad and were muttering or laughing like this was an insane asylum, which, in a way, it was.

"Mother of God..." Leon muttered himself.

Leon grabbed Lara's arm and practically dragged her forward past all the broken-minded prisoners. He then lead her past another gas plume where some stairs lead up to another pathway. They followed the path several feet forward.

That was where they ran into more Solarii, and the voices were heading toward their location.

"Goddamn these caves...surprised this whole place hasn't gone up yet."

"I might have to cap that vent in the pit again."

"If it's loose, let's just leave it for the next shift?"

"Hey, don't take too long down there. I wanna finish this game."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Hearing enough, Leon crept over and with each man, snapped their necks as silently as possible.

At the top of the nearby stairs, they discovered the other two men. Lara shot out the searchlight and blew up the one next to the gas plume.

"Intruders in the catacombs!"

"Shut up!" Leon snarled coldly, shooting the other man.

As the other men who came to aid their now fallen comrades opened fire, Leon gunned each one of them down as well with a deadly accuracy.

Continuing up, they set up another camp before Lara backtracked a bit and turned the valve they'd passed. It burst, nearly spraying her full on in the face with gas. Backing away quickly to avoid it, she lit it, and the resulting blast blew a large metal crate down to use as a boost to climb up the wall.

After scooting along the ledge, they pulled themselves up and crawled forward. Leon cursed hearing more Solarii.

"Oh fuck, I forgot about the smell."

"It's quiet. I don't think the girl or the agent are down here. Maybe we should just leave?"

"Come on, we have to be sure. Let's search the pit."

"Hey! What's going on down there?"

"Oh, hey. Nikolai sent us down."

"I don't care who sent you bastards down here," Leon growled. "You're all gonna die here."

As he finished saying that, Lara fired at another plume that set them all on fire. They thrashed and screamed for a few moments, then went silent.

With the threats gone, they jumped to the other catwalk and scaled the rock wall up to another enclosed pathway. They interrupted an initiation ceremony by blowing up the men gathered. They ascended the nearby stairs to find their path blocked.

As Lara unblocked their path with the large hanging metal structure, the catacombs rumbled dangerously.

"Sounds like the more we use that gas, the more unstable this place becomes," Leon commented lowly as they continued through, breaking into a run.

They raced through the tunnel as small rocks and dirt fell from the ceiling, explosions booming all around them. At one point, the floor collapsed beneath their feet and they were plunged into a gas-filled catacomb. Coughing, they ran almost blindly through the plumes of gas and managed to find a way out by climbing up the wall.

Ducking down behind some crates, they jolted in surprise hearing the voice of Reyes.

"Keep it up, you son of a bitch. When I get outta here, I'm gonna shove one of those arrows right up your ass."

"Hahah! This one's got a temper."

"Hey! Don't rile them up. We're working here."

Lara took two of the gathered men out while Leon chased and dispatched two as well. Cheers and applause came from above them from their comrades.

"That was bad-ass, you two!" Alex cheered, then asked, "How the hell did you get in here?"

"We had some help," Lara replied.

"Grim?" Reyes asked the dreaded question.

"Yes...he didn't make it."

"Shit!" Reyes cursed.

"I didn't think anything could take that guy down," Jonah remarked.

"He went out swinging...gave us a chance to get to you. Look, there's a rescue helicopter on its way. I know they're keeping Sam separately. Have you seen Whitman?"

"Guess he didn't make it to the guest rooms," Reyes replied.

"Mr. Showbiz probably weaseled an upgrade," Alex snarked. Leon bit back a smirk. He hadn't forgotten Whitman's attempt to negotiate which ultimately got him and Lara captured. If he never saw that miserable asshole again, it would be too soon.

"We'll find him. And Sam, too. But we're not gonna do anything from up here," Jonah added.

"We'll find a way to get you out," Lara called, glancing at Leon then back up at them. Leon nodded to them in agreement with her.

Utilizing the gas one more time, they loosened the cage...at the expense of the environment's stability. Leon and Lara rushed up to the cage and jumped onto it. Another explosion caused the cage to shudder, making them nearly tumble off the side. Leon grabbed onto a bar on the side while Jonah prevented Lara from plummeting to her doom.

"Jonah, swing her closer to me!" Leon called. Seeing he wasn't too far away, Jonah did as he said and Lara wrapped her arms around Leon's shoulders.

He shimmied them carefully around the cage and up on it where they jumped off.

"Okay, Lara. We need to do this part in sync," Leon yelled over all the noise.

She nodded. Together, they used their axes to bust open the gas valves and blew them up, Lara with her fire arrows, Leon with the fire created from shooting his gun. The cage swung to the other side and stayed put long enough for the three of them to escape.

Lara urged them to go on ahead while she and Leon went back for Sam and Whitman. Well, she could get Whitman. Leon would only go for Sam. Jonah urged them to be careful before he, Alex, and Reyes head for the exit.

As Leon and Lara pulled themselves up, Jonah and Roth's voices came through the radio.

 _"We're out, but this place is falling apart!"_

 _"I've set up a rendezvous point back across the bridge. The chopper's gonna be here soon."_

 _"Lara and Leon are still looking for Sam and Whitman."_

They broke into the Solarii fortress and easily got outside since the men were so worried about escaping the collapsing building.

"Keep moving. Just keep moving," Lara called. Leon was right on her heels.

They ran, jumped, climbed, and shimmied along, avoiding both the men and the raging fire. Finally, they reached a room with multiple papers and photos.

"That's Mathias," Lara commented, looking at the pictures.

"No one leaves," Leon rasped, pointing to the wall at the red writing. "That's what we heard in Japanese before the plane crashed."

"The ritual in Himiko's tomb," Lara said, observing a paper. "Why is Mathias so interested in it?"

"No time! We gotta go, Lara! Now!" Leon yelled over his shoulder to her. She grabbed the paper and followed him out through the large hole in the ceiling. They ziplined to the neighboring building.

"It's the outsiders!"

"Don't let them get near the Shrine!"

"We must be close then," Leon commented, entering the building with Lara right behind him. The explosions and fire took care of the Solarii for them.

At the end of the hallway around the corner, they heard footsteps. Leon drew his gun and waited til they were closer before he spun around the corner, his gun raised and ready to fire. He lowered it just slightly seeing Whitman.

"Lara! Leon! You're alive!" he gasped.

"So are you...I mean, are you okay? What happened?" Lara asked.

"Once they stopped seeing me as a threat, they let me move about almost freely!"

 _'I don't believe that for one goddamn second!'_ Leon yelled in his mind.

"Did you know the others were captured?" Lara asked again, this time with a slight tone of disbelief in her voice.

"Yes, yes...Sam's in there, but I couldn't free her without a weapon. These Solarii are an anthropological marvel, Lara!"

"How dare you call these mindless, heartless MURDERERS a 'marvel'! They're savage killers to their very core!" Leon snarled, not holding in his anger at Whitman's statement.

"He's right. We need to get our people out of here!" Lara stated, turning away.

"Of course, of course. I'll keep a look out here...you...you call me when it's safe."

Leon resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he followed Lara in the direction Whitman said they were keeping Sam.

Finding the room and carefully slipping inside, they heard Sam and Mathias talking.

"I don't think you understand. You have been _chosen_ , Samantha. This is a great honor for you; for all of us. Some were beginning to doubt we'd ever find you. But here you are."

"Please. I know you think I'm something special. But I'm not. I don't want to be chosen."

"This is not about what you want. It's about what you _are_. Himiko's blood runs in your veins. I think you know this, Samantha."

"You're insane, Mathias. Why are you doing this?"

"You're searching for logic and reason where there is none. I made the same mistake once. Back when I thought ships could reach us and planes wouldn't fall from the sky."

"I just want to go home."

Leon's blood boiled when Mathias grabbed Sam around her neck harshly, nearly blowing his and Lara's cover as his hand twitched toward his gun, wanting so badly to draw it and kill the man responsible for all their misery.

"So do I, girl!" Mathias growled. "I've waited years for this moment. I've given my life! Don't you think I've tried to get away from here? From this place! We are all trapped here. But you, Samantha, you have the power to release us! Many have given up their souls willingly for this gift!"

"The fires are getting worse! The other girl's vanished with the agent!" one of the guards reported.

"This must be ended," Mathias spoke. "Dmitri, guard her with your life."

After they left, Lara took out the remaining guard, making Sam notice them.

"Lara! Leon! Oh my God, you're both here! I was beginning to think I was going crazy."

Lara jogged over to her friend and hugged her.

"It's okay, it's okay. It's going to be okay."

"Our weapons," Leon spoke up, grabbing the trench shotgun and hanging Lara the machine gun.

"How are we ever going to get out of here?!" Sam asked hysterically.

"We need to leave before he comes back," Lara replied.

They walked to the door.

"Whitman! Whitman!" Lara called.

No answer.

"Where the hell is he?" she asked.

"Who knows, who cares?" Leon growled. "We don't have time to waste waiting for his sorry ass."

Suddenly, he stepped around the corner as they were nearing it.

"Run you guys! Run!" Mathias appeared behind him.

"Get them!"

"Back! Back into the throne room!" Leon yelled. Lara took Sam's hand and pulled her away while Leon shot down the ceiling to buy them some time.

As Leon ran back into the throne room, he saw Lara lead Sam up some stairs on the other side just before another explosion caused beams of fire came crashing down, separating him from them.

"Leon!" they screamed, Sam in fear, Lara in worry.

"Keep going! I'll find another way out!" he yelled to them.

They took off just as Solarii came in and started firing at him. He ducked behind a large pot to avoid the rain of bullets.

 _'I can handle this. At least Lara and Sam are safe for now.'_

 **AN: New chapter! Blah, these new chapters give me massive headaches...trying to stay on it, though!**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: Leon's struggle with the aftereffects of the Las Plagas virus continues and hits another boiling point when faced with the lives of his allies being threatened once again.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	19. Widowmaker

Chapter 16: Widowmaker

With a deep breath to brace himself, and feeling the anger caused by the Las Plagas side effect burn through him, Leon jumped up from behind the pot and started returning fire. The men fell quickly to his accurate execution-style shots. His victory was short-lived as two heavier-armored henchmen came through the flames.

"The chosen one has escaped! Get out there and find her!"

"Oh no, you don't," Leon grumbled.

Grabbing his trench shotgun, he blew apart the armor protecting their heads, which ultimately blew up their heads in general.

"Come on, pick it up! We can't let them escape!"

"Like you could ever stop us. You haven't before now, so why should after be any different?" Leon muttered sarcastically.

"Get out of here!"

"Move, move, move!"

"Good idea for once," he remarked as he head for the exit, a back-way half-blocked by a searchlight illuminating part of the throne room. Pushing the light out of his way, he quickly ran through the halls.

"Hey, get outside! The chosen one has escaped into the city with the other girl!"

"Come on, move it! We have to find her!"

Hearing them on the chase for Lara and Sam spurred him into a fiery run through the halls, blasting through any Solarii who foolishly tried to stop him.

Getting outside, he was nearly shot to a bloody pulp by a man on a 50-caliber turret.

"Now that's bringing out the big guns," Leon joked to himself as he maneuvered in and out of barricades before the turret blew them to pieces. Climbing up the side of a building using his axe, he took a quick breather before ziplining down to the man's position, avoiding the gunfire as the man tried and failed to stop him.

He used the turret to push the man back, but before he could get it re-aimed, the man got to his feet and pushed back, sending both Leon and the turret to the ground. But he never got a chance to fire at Leon again. The spot where Leon had landed put him near a grenade launcher. He manually fired one up and blew up the area where the man had been before attaching the launcher to his trench shotgun and blasting through the heavier metal barrier in front of him.

"Oh shit! The agent's got a grenade launcher! Run!"

"That's right!" Leon screamed ferally, firing at the men attempting to escape him. "Run, you bastards! Run as fast as you can! I'm coming for you all!"

After blowing all the men up, he set up a quick camp, but didn't stay at it long. He climbed up to their vantage point with the axe and jogged around the corner. Coughing, he ducked under the burning beams as more explosions roared around him.

 _'Please let me get outta here before I pass out from all the smoke,'_ he though, praying.

Shooting through the wall on the other side, he scrambled outside, gasping in the fresh air before shouts from below drew his attention.

"Stay away from us!" Sam cried, grabbing Lara's pistol from it's holster now on her leg and pointing at the men. Lara was next to her, her machine gun also raised at them.

"Come with us...we won't hurt you or your friend."

 _'Flat-out lie,'_ Leon thought before firing the trench shotgun down on the men and killing them.

"Lara! Sam! Run!" he called when they looked up to his position. Lara took Sam's hand and they took off running into the shantytown. "I gotta regroup with them. Looks like that zipline will get me down there at least."

Running over to it, he ziplined down into the shantytown. Blasting through another metal barrier and getting more guards out of his way, Leon weaved in and out of the buildings, replenishing his ammo along the way. He was soon blinded by more spotlights, raising a hands to shield his eyes against the light that was making his head start pounding again.

 _'No. Muscle your way through it. Now's not the time to let it get the better of you. Keep moving, Kennedy! You got people counting on you!'_

They had another turret, and he was sent ducking and rolling to avoid being hit. Once he was close enough and still well-sheltered, he shot out the searchlight and the man on the turret. He then climbed up top to another barrier and jumped across to the neighboring building. He found more ammo and took out the man who'd been on the spotlight before ziplining back down to the ground.

"You're not stopping me," he growled.

Lara and Sam appeared on the other side of the wall through a large hole.

"Leon! Leon! Climb over, come on!" Sam called to him.

Leon jogged over to the wall.

"Head for Roth, both of you. I'll follow, I swear. But don't get on the helicopter."

Sam gave him an incredulous look, but Lara intervened before she could object.

"Just trust him, Sam. Please trust him. He kept me alive all this time...he knows what he's doing. I trust him completely. Please do the same, for me."

Leon backed away as Lara was saying all this. Her words were like a slap in the face to him as the Las Plagas again flashed through his mind. But there wasn't time to dwell on that. They had to hurry or they'd be too late.

"Go, both of you!" he urged them. "Go!"

Lara nodded to him and took Sam's hand, running off in the opposite direction.

He then set about climbing up the containers against the wall, ziplining to another platform, climbing up the wall with his axe, and swinging inside the structure. A guard threw down a Molotov cocktail and ignited the room. Rushing to escape the blaze, Leon climbed some shelves, jumped to some ledges, dug his axe into the wall, shimmied over to the opening, and climbed up. Glancing up, he saw the lights of the rescue helicopter not far away and his blood went cold.

"No...I've gotta stop them from getting on that helicopter."

Taking the zipline down to the bridge, Leon landed a bit roughly, but staggered to his feet as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

"Destroy the bridges!" yelled the unmistakable voice of Mathias.

Bursting into a run again, Leon tore across the bridges faster than he ever remembered being. The explosions of the bridge being blown up caught up to him, however. As he grasped the edge desperately, a Solarii was hanging off him. He elbowed the man in the face then raised his axe.

"This is for Grim, you dastardly son of a bitch," he growled and swung the axe down. Unsure of where he hit the man and also uncaring, the man let go and plummeted to his death.

Leon hauled himself up. He jumped several sections before he fell through and slid into a tower. As he got to his feet, Roth's voice patched a warning through.

 _"We're taking fire. Everybody get to higher ground!"_

Lara's voice came next.

 _"Wait...the storms! It's too dangerous! Roth!? Damn it!"_

Leon cursed and started climbing, racing to the top of the tower. As he stumbled onto the roof, he ripped his radio from his belt.

"Roth?"

Another explosion in the tower caused him to slip, but he continued to the absolute highest point.

"Roth, where are you!?"

Just then, the chopper appeared in front of him with Roth already on board.

"I'm here, Leon! Come on, jump son! You can do it!"

The roof caved in, but he didn't fall far. Against his better judgement, he raced back up and jumped for the chopper. With a bit of difficulty, Roth hauled him up into the chopper.

"There you go!" Roth said as he patted Leon's back.

"Leon! You're alright!" Lara cried, kneeling to embrace him.

 _Wait, what?_

Why was Lara here?!

"What are you doing here? I told you not to get on!" he rasped.

"I knew the chopper would pick you up next. I know what you said, but I had to make sure. Sam's safe with the others."

Leon shook his head. That wasn't the big concern right now. They had to land or they'd crash.

"Roth, we have to land!" Lara cried as Leon stood up. Roth turned away.

"No!" Leon yelled, grabbing Roth's shoulder and turning him to face them.

"Roth, listen to us!" he half-screamed over all the noise around them. "We have to land or the storms are going to crash us. I can guarantee they will! We can't leave!"

Out the window, several feet below them on the ground, the other survivors were trying to flag the chopper. However, the chopper started flying away without them.

"We can't leave them behind!" Roth sounded resolute. They went to the pilot.

"We have to land!" Lara cried to him.

"No way! Not in this weather!" he replied. Leon couldn't believe him. His biggest concern was the fucking _weather_?!

"We can't leave them behind!" Lara tried again.

"I barely made it here in one piece!"

Leon had had enough. He drew his Beretta and pointed it at the man's temple.

"Do it!" he yelled.

"She'll pull apart!" the pilot replied.

"Now!" Lara screamed.

"Fuck! You're crazy!"

"LAND THE GODDAMN CHOPPER NOW! THIS IS YOUR LAST FUCKING WARNING!" Leon snarled at the top of his lungs.

But by then, it was too late. Black storm clouds had them surrounded.

"Here it comes!" Lara yelled.

Lightning struck the top, sending them to the floor.

"Hang on, you two!" Roth called.

The chopper went hurtling to the ground, and upon impact, everyone lost conscious.

The first to come to was Roth. Pushing some metal debris off his legs, he scrambled over to a dazed Lara not far from him. Just beyond her, Leon was starting to come to as well, stirring and emitting a low groan.

Realizing Lara wasn't breathing, Roth performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth. With a gasping cough, Lara came to, but was still unable to function. He managed to get them far enough from the chopper before it blew. Lara hung limply off Roth's shoulders like a rag doll.

"It's them," Lara groaned.

Mathias and two of his Solarii were there behind them. Roth spun and gunned the men down before he ran out of ammo. Roth spun on his heel to shield Lara from the tomahawk Mathias threw in their direction. Bracing himself for the impact, a garbled, almost inhuman voice pierced through the air.

"NO!"

Time slowed down as Leon shot to his feet and sprinted in front of Roth, seizing the tomahawk out of the air, spinning a complete 360 before hurtling it back at it's original thrower.

However, more Solarii had appeared, and the tomahawk instead buried itself in the skull of one of the henchmen. Mathias quickly disappeared as Leon and Roth gunned down the remaining men in time for Leon to witness Mathias getting away.

"NO! COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT, YOU COWARDLY BASTARD! DON'T YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME!" Leon roared, preparing to chase him. He didn't get but only a few feet away before Roth's voice stopped him.

"Leon, no!"

Leon whirled around to face him, to berate him for going ahead with this plan when he knew it would fail...

But the words died in his throat seeing Lara in Roth's arms in tears, no doubt shaken by everything that just happened.

"I know you want to go after him, but your comrades need you more right now," Roth panted. Just like that, the angry fire burning inside him died away as well. Roth was right and this was far from over.

"Roth, I...you and all the other survivors need to know something about me. We should regroup with the others, and then, I'll be giving you all a reason to not be so trusting of me."

There was no need, as at that moment, the others came running through the trees. Sam knelt beside Lara, who had stopped crying by now, and placed a caring hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Are you okay, Lara?"

"Is she okay?" Reyes snapped. "Because it's all about Lara, isn't it? Have you forgotten that she's the reason we're here?"

"That's not fair, Reyes," Sam scolded the black woman.

"No it isn't," Leon bristled. "How dare you, Reyes? No one twisted your arm to come on this expedition and none of us, not even Lara, could've known _this_ is what we'd find on the oh-so-great-and-legendary Yamatai!" He looked around at everyone as he continued.

"Everyone here is scared, yes? We all want to go home. However, how will we accomplish that if we suddenly go at each other's throats, looking for someone to blame? You want someone to blame? Blame the cruel hand of Fate that brought us here!"

"Leon."

Lara's soft voice immediately calmed him, and it gave him a feeling of guilt. She said earlier during their escape from the compound that she trusted him completely. In reality, they had NO reason to trust him at all, especially with the secret he was about to reveal.

Before he could say anything, Reyes spoke up again.

"He's right, though. I shouldn't have said that and I'm sorry, Lara. It's just...what are we gonna do now?"

"Let's find somewhere safe and weigh our options," Jonah suggested. They all nodded in agreement.

 **(Quick AN: For clarification, the next part and where they make camp takes place where they build Roth's funeral pyre. With that said, back to the story!)**

A half hour later, they'd built a fire and were gathered around, waiting for someone to speak first.

"Leon, I believe you said something earlier about you had a reason for us to not trust you," Roth spoke up, breaking the silence. "Care to explain now what you meant?"

All attention was now on him. He sighed and braced himself before explaining like Roth asked.

"Something happened on my mission in Spain rescuing the President's daughter, Ashley. We got rid of it with this...machine but for a while, she and I...we were infected with a virus."

Everyone's eyes widened and a couple of them gasped quietly, but Roth made sure they stayed quiet for the moment and allow Leon to explain.

"It was a local virus. They called it 'Las Plagas'. Ashley and I found this machine and used it to rid ourselves of the virus's parasite before it was too late, but with everything that's been happening here, it got me thinking. Just because the virus is gone never meant there wouldn't be any side effects."

He looked over at Roth. "I think that could be what happened on the palace bridge when I..."

He was unable to finish and he lowered his head.

"Wait, what happened on the bridge?" Jonah asked.

Roth took the reins to allow Leon a reprieve.

"I covered him and Lara as they made their way across the bridge to infiltrate the palace. I thought they were alright, but one man survived. My warning came too late as he grabbed Lara, threatening to break her neck if I didn't surrender. In that moment, something in Leon snapped. He went completely ballistic as he tore out the man's jugular with his teeth like an animal, and after he let Lara go, Leon viciously stabbed the man to death and continued stabbing him even after he was dead. It took Lara throwing him off the man before he snapped out of it. Fear replaced the anger when Leon realized what he'd done, but the damage had already been done."

"You some kind of animal now?" Reyes growled at Leon, distrust shining in her eyes.

"Reyes, I realize how this may sound to you, but stop and think," Sam intervened. "Even if he's had 'moments', Leon's done nothing but help us. The only people he's killed have been our enemies. He's dealing with a _side effect_ , not the actual virus. And honestly? Lara, you were right about him at the compound. He's got sharp instincts and can keep us alive while we're stuck here. I can't speak for all of us, but even after what he just revealed, which must've taken him a lot of courage, I don't distrust him. If he gets us through to the end of this nightmare, I won't abandon him as a comrade."

She walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder, which earned her a small smile from Leon, before it dropped and he turned to Roth.

"Maybe you put it to a vote. Am I still trusted enough that you keep me in the group? Or does any distrust make you cast me out and throw me to the island? Let them decide themselves."

This shocked Roth. Lara as well. Leon would leave the group willingly if they didn't trust him enough with their safety? However, Roth understood and nodded, causing Lara to shoot him a look of disbelief.

"Very well. We vote. Does Leon stay or go? Sam, it's obvious your answer's 'stay', right?"

Sam nodded. Roth turned to the others one by one.

"Alex?"

After a moment, Alex nodded and replied, "Stay."

"Jonah?"

"Stay."

"Reyes?"

She sighed. "I'm not sure if I can say I trust you right now, but I wouldn't wish this place flying solo on my worst enemy. So, I vote 'stay'."

"Lara?"

Leon tensed. Reyes's vote was a bit nerve-racking, but Lara's vote had him trembling. After all, he opened up to her some, but withholding something like this...

"Stay."

Leon's head snapped up.

"Wait, what?"

Lara regarded him with gentle, understanding eyes.

"I've learned enough about you at this point to say that you're the sort of person who will open up to people on your own time. This is something you didn't want to disclose right away and we shouldn't blame you for it or hold it against you. I know you aren't a monster, Leon, and you certainly aren't a danger. To us, anyway."

The group gave a weak, tired chuckle before she continued.

"I know, somehow, you were sent with us to protect us. You've gotten us this far. I know you can get us the rest of the way."

Leon gave a her a wider smile than he'd given Sam. It was comforting hearing that from her. It was reassuring and it gave him strength to keep going.

"Well, I haven't exactly disregarded the fact that you saved mine and Lara's lives after the chopper crashed and we were surrounded by those men. We will not abandon you, so don't you abandon us. With a unanimous vote, Leon stays with us," Roth concluded the vote.

Leon breathed a silent sigh of relief. There was some distrust, but not enough to warrant them sending him away. For several moments, they all sat in silence watching the dancing flames of the fire. Then Reyes spoke up.

"That old PT boat on the beach, I should be able to fix it up."

"It's worth a shot," Jonah commented.

"It doesn't matter...we're not getting off this island," Lara shot down.

"Come on, Lara...don't talk like that. We just gotta regroup, come up with a plan, you know?" Alex tried to perk her up, but she shook her head.

"You just don't get it...any of you. Something won't let us leave."

"Some _thing_? Lara, you need sleep," Reyes remarked.

"Look, I'll be the first to admit that I usually go in for the weird stuff but this place off the charts," Alex said to her. Reyes bristled.

"I'm not dying here! I'm fixing that boat and we're leaving!" she spat. She stood up and made to walk away, but Leon stopped her.

"No one else will die here. As I said before, we're all scared, and I get that all you want is to go home to your daughter, Reyes. But don't let that blind from seeing what's going on here. It goes beyond just those men. I've kept you alive this long. After watching Grim die and not being able to do anything about it, I won't let this island take someone else."

She wrenched away from him and continued walking.

"You know this island isn't right, Jonah. I know you do," Lara said, turning to the man in question.

The man regarded her with solemn expression. "All I know is that we can't use logic to understand this place. I know you think your instincts are a weakness but they're a strength. Trust them. We need you, Lara. You as well, Leon."

"The big man's right," Alex added.

Roth, Jonah, Alex, Sam, and Lara all started down the path after Reyes. Lara paused when Leon didn't move from his spot.

"Leon?" she called to him.

"You all go ahead. I can't leave this place yet. I need more time."

Lara regarded him silently for a moment before turning to the others.

"I don't want to leave him alone. I'll stay behind and we'll join the rest of you soon."

"You know where we'll be. Come down when you're ready, we won't go anywhere without you," Sam assured her and they embraced.

Jonah, Alex, and Sam all headed down to the beach while Roth lingered back.

"I'll talk to them while the two of you stay here for a bit. I've seen most of the same things you two have, so I'll see about talking some sense into them. Don't push him too hard, girl. Anyone can see he's still grappling with this revelation."

She nodded and then he was off as well. She returned to Leon's side by the fire.

"You could've gone with them. You aren't obligated to stay with me," he remarked as she sat down beside him.

"It was my choice...why do you still struggle with being around us? We don't perceive you as a threat."

He shook his head. "I don't know how stable this thing is, Lara. For all you guys know, I'm a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. Grim was the final straw. If I have to watch anymore of you die-"

He never finished as Lara turned his head toward her and she covered his mouth with hers, shocking him into silence. He allowed his eyes to drift shut and pushed back gently, reciprocating her kiss. After a few breathtaking moments, she slowly pulled away and his eyes opened, appearing slightly glazed.

"That was...a surprising but sweet way of telling me to shut up," he finally breathed out.

"You've already promised that you won't let anyone else die here and you held true to that earlier protecting Roth and I. With you on our side, there's no reason we can't beat this island and go home."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side.

"I really hope you're right, Lara."

They sat in silence for several hours before Leon finally spoke up again as thunder boomed in the distance.

"No one leaves...the storms...they're linked to the power of the Sun Queen. That's what's stopping us leaving!"

He stood up, pulling her up with him.

"The monastery has a ritual chamber," she commented, pulling out a map. "If that's what the Stormguard are protecting, the answer to stopping the storms must be in there. Hmm...a hidden river entrance...the boat!"

"We have to use it to go inland, to the ritual chamber," Leon realized. Lara folded up the map and put it away.

"We should regroup with the others," Leon told her. She nodded and they headed down the path to the beach.

 _'This is still far from over. The island's only just cleared her throat. She hasn't even begun to sing yet.'_

 **AN: New chapter! Holy shit, this one was fun! This one took almost 4 hours with little to no breaks, though, so hope this tides everyone over!**

 **Oh, snap. Yeah, I went there. THE FIRST KISS! I really hope it wasn't too soon for that and that I balanced everything out the way I was hoping for.**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: Leon and Lara search for the answer to stopping the storms of Yamatai.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	20. The Fast Way Down

Chapter 17: The Fast Way Down

"'Tears won't bring the dead back, girl.' That's what Roth told me one time. I just can't believe most of our comrades who started this journey with us are now gone. God, I almost wish they'd killed me instead. But they didn't. I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm certain that no boat or plane is going to get us off this island. At least not yet. I know the answer has something to do with Himiko and that monastery. My constant companion, Leon Kennedy, does as well. We have to do something. We have to stop this."

That was the entry Lara wrote before setting off back into Yamatai's dangerous terrains.

As they were following the path, the voices of some lingering Solarii drew their attention away from their destination.

"Find anything?"

"No, it's too damned dark. They could be anywhere."

"You sure they're here?"

"Maybe I should just climb a tree and wait this out."

"Good idea. That way, I can shoot you out of it," Leon growled. The voices brought back the raging, angry fire from earlier. He felt like snapping some necks after Mathias got away yet again. Then, the wolves of the island started howling. Looked like regrouping down on the beach would have to wait.

"Great. Fucking wolves."

"Hey! If you're hiding, come out! Show yourselves!"

Leon held in his laughter. Did they really expect him and Lara to come out of hiding just because they ordered it? They truly were idiots.

He nodded to Lara, who took the man out with her bow. Leon then lit their torch and they proceeded carefully and quietly down the path. Lara took the men they encountered out since she had the quieter weapon on hand.

Their luck fell short, however, when two enemies they somehow missed spotted them and sicked some apparently tamed wolves on them.

"Shit! Back up, Lara! Put some Distance between yourself and them!"

He drew the trench shotgun while she pulled out her machine gun, and they went at both the men and the wolves, gunning them all down with extreme ease. With the area cleared of all enemies, they returned to the cabin they'd passed. They collected salvage and Leon discovered a journal left by a Stormguard general. He read the journal aloud of the Stormguard who served the Sun Queen with utmost loyalty and brought down her wrath to her enemies who had once attempted to invade Yamatai.

"While we of Yamatai bask in the warmth of her grace, those who oppose us will burn," Leon finished. He then returned the journal where he found it. "As long as you didn't oppose Himiko, you were safe here once upon a time. Can't say too much has changed, though."

They then went into the wolf cave. Lara used the rope arrows to pull down the door blocking them. Reaching a small chamber in the tunnel, they heard more wolves coming their way. They quickly climbed up a scaffolding so they were out of reach.

"These wolves are like the ones in the forest. Are they breeding them?" Lara wondered.

"Wouldn't put anything past these wretched people at this point," Leon replied lowly.

They used a strung up deer corpse to provide them a bar to swing to the rocky wall across from them, which they then climbed up using their axes. They found themselves in a more ritualistic chamber. After collecting more salvage, Leon pointed to a tunnel.

"Must be that way."

They quickly realized as they entered that the tunnel wasn't a tunnel. It was a slope, and it nearly sent them down into a pitch black canyon. Leon managed to grab the ledge, but Lara had fallen just out of its reach and instead wrapped her arms around Leon's waist.

"Lara, use me to climb up and get on the ledge."

She did as he suggested then turned around to help him up, but he had already pulled himself up onto the ledge. He stood up carefully and relit the torch. Crouching to avoid hitting their heads, they inched along the path the ledge gave them.

The cave soon opened up to where they could stand up straight, and just ahead, they could see the light of an exit. They looked out over the cliffside.

"Another shantytown," Leon muttered under his breath.

"There's a rope over there that'll take us down there," Lara stated, pointing out said rope.

At the bottom of it, Alex radioed in.

 _"You there Lara, Leon?"_

Lara grabbed her radio. "Alex! We've been trying to reach you all morning."

 _'No we haven't...'_ Leon thought, puzzled as to why she said that, but shrugged it off and decided to go with it.

 _"We just got to the beach. Boat's in pretty bad shape. Without the right tools, we might have trouble getting it up and running. We could sure use both your help down here."_

"See what you can do. We're on our way."

 _"Watch yourselves out there."_

And that was it.

The riggings down below them reminded Leon of Grim. How they had failed to reach him before the Solarii had and how he'd paid the price for it with his life. He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the past. They had to keep moving to keep safe.

They climbed down to the makeshift cable cars and hitched a ride, allowing them a small breather. Lara stole a glance at her companion.

"How're you holding up?"

He shrugged. "I'm fine right now. Seems like the only time I feel those side effects is when I get super angry. I really hope this doesn't make Johanna think any less of me."

"Johanna?" She hadn't heard this name before. A relative, a lover even?

"Oh, sorry. I kinda brought that up outta the blue." He chuckled before explaining. "Johanna's my younger foster sister. I found her on the streets when she was 16. She had no family and no home to go to. On a whim, really, I took her in and gave her a home. I adopted her as my sister and finished bringing her up the best I could. She's 18 now, a Sergeant-in-training in the military and was just shipped down to a base in Georgia about 3 months ago. She'll be there for basic for 6 so it's just another 3 months before she comes home. I want to be there at the airport to welcome her when she steps off the plane so I really want to get out of here alive."

"I never would've guessed you had a sister."

"I'm not one to brag about people, but my sister...she's become such a wonderful person despite the hell that she went through herself. I couldn't be any prouder of her."

He fished a photo out of his pocket and handed it to her so she could see. The picture depicted Leon with a small smile, hugging a young woman from behind. She had golden brown eyes and long, shiny black hair that was left loose and appeared to reach the small of her back. She was dressed in typical army fatigues and wore an almost impish smile on her face.

"She's beautiful. She looks Latina or at least is of Latina descent," Lara commented, handing the photo back to him.

"She gets that a lot, but she swears up and down that she isn't. She's American, born and raised. You should visit after this is said and done. Get a chance to meet her in person."

"I think I just might."

They were about halfway down when Sam's voice came through Lara's radio.

 _"Lara, are you there? Alex said you and Leon were on your way down?"_

Lara grabbed her radio.

"We should be there soon...I need to tell you something."

 _"What's going on?"_

"I don't think we can leave this island...something is keeping us here. Leon and I have to go back to the monastery."

 _"Are you sure?"_

"Yes, Sam. I need you to keep this to yourself for now. I'm going to help Reyes fix that boat, but then I'm taking it inland."

 _"Lara...I don't know about this."_

"Just trust me - it's the only way."

" _Alright...you guys be careful."_

They didn't get much further when the the transport ground to a halt.

"Are you fucking serious?" Leon groaned.

Lara made a zipline that would take them over to the tower they stopped almost next to. Getting over, they found a makeshift ladder that would take them higher and possibly give them an alternate route.

"It's too quiet," Lara commented as she and Leon pulled themselves up. Leon silently agreed. It was far too quiet and he feared a possible trap as they ziplined to the next structure.

"Hey! They're here!" yelled one man as they all opened fire.

'Fucking knew it,' Leon thought as he and Lara drew their weapons and returned fire.

"Flush them out!"

"Come on! Is that your best!?" Lara screamed at them.

"Don't provoke them anymore, Lara," Leon muttered. He looked up and spotted a man on a turret.

"Shit! Lara, GET DOWN!"

He dove for her, pushing her down as the bullets started flying. The lines holding the ship up gave way and it tilted onto one side. Leon and Lara grasped the railing while the last two Solarii went plummeting into the mists below.

They shimmied along the bars exposed as the turret shot off most of the ship's external body. They safely landed on a platform not yet collapsed and ran. The man shot out the last of the lines holding the ship up, making it go vertical.

They fell to the last possible bar and held on, waiting as the shipwreck swung like a pendulum before they let go and landed on a platform just under it. The platform collapsed a little, sending them sliding almost completely off into the mists had they not attached to the zipline.

They hopped across 3 ziplines before sliding down a slope made of compiled wreckages. Leon shot out the blockade before they went sprawling down 2 more ziplines then splashing into a river. Another blockade was shot out and then a short freefall over a small waterfall before it finally stopped.

Brushing the water from their eyes, they waded over to a dock and pulled themselves out of the water.

"Something tells me the others found an easier way down," Lara stated when the dock disappeared into the sand.

Through a crevice in the wall, they reached the beach.

"Made it...now where are they?" Leon muttered.

They made their way down to the beach and made camp real quick before going to the others. Sam was perched on the side of the boat, watching Jonah and Reyes trying to start the boat. Roth was resting across the seats.

"Sam!" We're here!" Lara called as they approached.

"Lara! Leon!"

She stood and hugged Lara. When they let go, she turned to Leon and hugged him, too. Leon, though taken aback, returned her hug.

Jonah came over and hugged them as well.

"Alex will be sorry he missed out on this."

Leon raised a brow in question while Lara asked, "Where is Alex?"

"Heading over to the _Endurance_ to grab some tools for Reyes," he replied.

"Jonah...give the hoist a try," Reyes asked him. He got out to do as asked.

"This has got to be our best chance, right?" Sam asked Lara.

"We've got to try," Lara agreed, though Leon knew she was only putting on a front and she still intended to go through with what she told Sam up on the cable car.

"I'm glad you and Leon decided to join us, Lara," Reyes said to her. Leon still hadn't gotten over the way she'd treated Lara after the chopper crash, but held his tongue for the moment.

"What can we do to help?" Lara asked.

"Help Jonah. Roth still can't do much with his leg in that condition."

They got out and took position behind Jonah. However, no matter how hard they pulled, it wouldn't budge.

"Shit," Reyes cursed.

"We'd be able to lift it more smoothly with some kind of block and tackle," Leon offered.

"You're right, Leon," Jonah said, looking up at the pulley. "I should be able to fashion one from some more pulleys."

"There might be some on that rigging we can use. Leon and I will check it out," Lara stated, pointing to the rigging.

"Be careful, Lara," Sam said to her friend.

"Don't worry, Sam. I'll keep her out of trouble," Leon promised.

They figured out how to get over to it easily enough. They swung over and climbed inside. Leon quickly realized they weren't alone.

"Who the fuck are they? Sounds like they got guns!"

"I don't know...let me think."

"Radio's been dead for hours...we're cut off, brother...what...what the hell are we gonna do?"

"Goddamn it, shut up for a second! Let me think! Something's going on...you saw the smoke coming from the mountain."

"Yeah...but that could mean anything."

"We'll go in at nightfall."

"Wait...you think that's a good idea?"

Lara shot one man at that point and Leon shot the other. They jumped over and climbed their way up and around the galleon.

"There it is," Lara pointed to it, holding up an anchor. Leon grabbed the trench shotgun and blasted the pulley off. It brought the whole mast crashing down.

Grabbing the pulley and using the fallen mast as a bridge, they eased down to the lower level, blasting through a few Solarii in the process.

They ziplined off the galleon into the shallow waves near the beach and made their way back to the boat. Jonah was near their campsite and they handed off the pulley to him.

"Thanks."

Leon sensed something was troubling him.

"What's wrong?" it was Lara who asked.

Jonah shook his head slightly. "Alex should've been back by now."

The sound of distant gunfire drew their attention, followed by a screaming plea.

"Help! Heeeeelp!" It was that bloody git, _Dr. Twitman_.

"It's Dr. Whitman!" Jonah cried, running toward the noise. Reyes stood up with her in hand.

"Jonah! Help!" he yelled, shooting at something (or nothing) they couldn't see. He tripped over some debris and stayed there for a moment. Leon glanced at Lara and raised a brow before they walked calmly over to the simpering archaeologist.

"How many are there?" Reyes asked, jogging over.

"I don't know..."

"Are you hurt?" Sam asked, helping him stand.

"I couldn't see anyone," Jonah stated, walking over.

"I must've scared them off," Whitman boasted. Leon rolled his eyes.

"Feel like I've run for miles," he added, hunched over and breathing heavy.

"And you've barely broken a sweat," Lara pointed out as she and Leon joined the others gathered. Leon had his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.

"Must be fitter than I thought," he said, brushing it off.

"You could've led them straight to us like you did back at the palace."

"What?" Reyes questioned.

"That's not how it was, Lara," Whitman denied, shaking his head. "Th-they...they caught me while you and Leon were getting Sam."

"What the hell's this about?" Reyes asked again.

"They said it was the only way they'd let you and the others live. I-I tried to warn you!"

"We don't have time for this! Look, I don't know what the problem is between the two of you, and to tell you the truth, I don't much care," Reyes snapped.

"I was only hoping..." Whitman started but was cut off by Reyes.

"Look, another word and I swear to God I'll start smashing that expensive dentistry of yours!"

"Stop, stop, stop! If we fight amongst ourselves, then we lose," Jonah intervened.

"You're right. Which is why this is not happening, okay?" Reyes asked, glaring around at the others. Leon, however, had had enough.

"That...is...it!" he snarled, drawing all attention to him. "I'm not holding my tongue any longer! I don't trust this idiot son of a bitch any farther than I can throw him! Why do we keep letting him come back to us? Because of his damned excuses?! Everytime he's been a part of the picture, some sort of disaster follows! He got me and Lara captured when we all split up to cover more ground and look for Sam, he blew our cover getting Sam out of that palace! What are you gonna do now, _Twitman_? You probably did give away our position to the Solarii and we should've cast you out while we still could! He's going to get us all killed! If anyone's cursed here, it's this miserable rat right here!"

"Leon!" Roth was there, too, a hand on Leon's shoulder. "Take it easy, son. Whitman's made some questionable decisions, but he's still one of our people."

Leon growled and vehemently shook his head.

"I'm with Lara. He can't be trusted and he shouldn't be here. Just wait, something bad will happen because once again, this is happening!" he mocked Reyes's words before storming away.

"We'll go after Alex. Where were the tools?" Lara spoke up.

"The engine room...look, he can take care of himself, Lara," Reyes remarked.

"Good. Then we'll be back soon," Lara snapped.

"You need to stop making calls as if you're the leader, Reyes," Leon spat. "Roth's in charge here, and if he suggests we do something or he doesn't object, we do it. End of story."

He and Lara then set off down the beach. The further he was away from Twitman, the better right now.

"Lara, Leon, wait!" It was Jonah. They stopped and waited for him to catch up.

He reached over to the side where they'd stopped and grabbed a compound bow they hadn't noticed. He offered it to Leon.

"Here, take this bow. I've been saving it for you two ever since I found it. It's powerful...can shoot an arrow into almost anything. Might be better suited for Leon since the draw weight is a bit heavier. If you're a sharpshooter with guns, you should handle it with no problem."

Leon nodded and shouldered the bow.

"I taught Johanna how to shoot guns and her longbow. I had some practice showing her what to do with it so time to brush up. Thanks, Jonah."

They turned toward the wreck as Jonah walked back to the boat.

 _'We've got to get out of here soon. I hope the hunch about the monastery is right.'_

 **AN: New chapter! Another part, another headache. Holy hell...**

 **So there's no confusion, I know Leon doesn't actually have a foster sister, not even a regular sister, but Johanna is my OC from another Resident Evil piece that I haven't posted yet, and she's Leon's adopted younger sister. I don't know if or when I'll post that piece, but if I do, I'll let you guys know!**

 **Next time on Resident Tomb Raider: Leon and Lara go on close shave rescue for Alex in the wreck of the _Endurance_.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	21. AN 3: Facing Fic Discontinuation

**AN: Not a chapter, unfortunately.**

 **Okay guys so, I started this piece as a sort of experimental thing. I haven't updated because I've started losing steam by focusing on other new shippings I'd like to experiment with in the future. I can't even begin to list what I have in mind.**

 **More crossovers, some not. Ranging from Resident Evil and Silent Hill to maybe some Final Fantasy. I just don't know yet!**

 **I think my next experiment will be another TR crossover, this time with Uncharted. A little LaraxNathan action, anyone?**

 **So yeah, not sure when I'll update Resident Tomb Raider, but don't expect as constant updates as I've been doing...sorry, guys. :(**


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